
Microsoft's Police State Vision? Exec Calls for Internet "Driver's Licenses" - wglb
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000676.html
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RiderOfGiraffes
Another submission on this: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1120774>

Already many, many comments over there. Probably worth reading the comments
there before repeating the same comments. I wish it were possible to merge
submissions.

~~~
josefresco
Why? Each conversation takes it's own route and is started and evolved by
different users/criteria. I wish instead of merging threads we could see a
'sub nav' of related threads so we could jump from thread to thread within the
same topic.

~~~
RiderOfGiraffes
Your idea is an interesting one, but:

a. It won't get implemented (of course, neither will mine)

b. I don't think people would skip across multiple threads before bestowing
their wisdom upon us

I believe chance dictates who gets to see which thread, and I'd rather have
more minds in one thread than have them split between separate threads
discussing the same thing. I hate wasted time and repeated discussion, I'd
rather see a single conversation rather than seeing the same points made
repeatedly in different places.

Personal opinion only, of course, but as a programmer I hate wasted effort and
duplication. DRY - don't repeat yourself.

Having said that, it's ironic that I'm making the same point here and now as
I've made several times in the past. Nothing will change, and people will
continue to submit things without checking to see if it's a repeat. The same
points will continue to be made several times over, and time will continue to
be wasted.

ADDED IN EDIT: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1112661>

So even though it's comparatively trivial to find such repeats and
duplications I'm not going to bother any more.

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rbanffy
So... If I drive a car without brakes, lights and seatbelts I can lose my
driver's license. Would plugging a Windows computer directly into a broadband
link without a firewall so that it would be infected by some malware and
become part of a botnet in a couple minutes make someone lose their internet
"driver license" too?

~~~
wmf
Nah, you'll just receive a ticket for Internet pollution in the mail. Be sure
to pay it on time or a warrant may be issued.

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benologist
How's this really any different to Google wanting to monitor everyone's
physical location (gps), browsing (dns), search, email, video and all the
other data streams they they tap into? It's really just an idea that would
formalize the death of anonymity years after the fact.

~~~
rbanffy
AFAIK, Google hasn't proposed any of those to be turned into law. You can use
your DNS server and not send your GPS data to Google (the easiest way is...
not buying a phone by Google and not use Google Maps).

If it were for Craig Mundie, you would be arrested for not surrendering your
privacy.

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seldo
I agree that freedom of speech is the overriding priority here, but at the
same time I can't help but feel -- for instance, when watching 400 people
attempt to login to Facebook via ReadWriteWeb's comment button -- that some
kind of basic training before we let you loose on the Internet would be a good
idea.

The Internet is awash with spam, beset by phishing, and plagued by botnets.
Really simple training could help average users avoid these problems and make
the whole Internet a better place. Shouldn't we at least offer an Internet
Driving License course, even if it's optional?

~~~
frisco
You mean, shouldn't we do a good job generally educating the population?

~~~
sshumaker
Well, we have sex ed in high school. How about net ed?

~~~
chaosmachine
I think a lot of kids get their "sex ed" via the net, these days.

~~~
sketerpot
Where else are you going to download the Savage Love podcast?

<http://podcasts.thestranger.com/savagelove/>

A school that tried to offer a sex-ed course that explicit would probably be
sued. The internet gets a free pass.

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sliverstorm
Does the general public just not make the connection?

Driver's Licence is

A) proof of your competency (in theory anyway), so you are less likely to
hurt/kill someone

B) identification so you can be held responsible in the event you do hurt/kill
someone

So, tell me Mr. Doe. When was the last time you committed manslaughter by
signing in to yahoo mail?

We generally only regulate things that pose a real physical threat to other
people.

