Are you suggesting that we open up a government agency dedicated to the testing of CPU chips, and enforcing strict regulations?
The FAA and its set of safety regulations are written into US law. That's why airplanes are trustworthy and safe: more safe than other countries on the average.
Or do you think the US just MAGICALLY gets high safety results through sheer determination? There are systems in place, and I think it is reasonable to suggest that we should start building a system for computer-chip processors.
Open Source is one possible proposal. I'm not sure what other proposals exist to ensure that the internals of chips aren't compromised.
I am suggesting that other engineering disciplines produce much safer products without opensource and open design. How it is achieved is another question. Bridges are not safe because of any government agency but because mechanical engineers design them to be safe.
Every single bridge in the USA is documented, listed, inspected and regulated. There's even an entire division of the US Military that helps out: The Army Corps of Engineers. So its multi-agency, multi-department, and even includes military service members.
Bridge Building might be the only thing more regulated than Airline safety in this country.
> because mechanical engineers design them to be safe.
Civil Engineer btw. Not Mechanical. And Civil Engineers need to pass a strict level of training and licensing to practice in the USA. Granted, this is on a State-by-State basis rather that on a national basis (like Bridge-building).
But its still a government regulation, even if its State-wide instead of Federal.
All 50 states require 4-years of work experience before you earn the title of "Professional Engineer". And that's the title you need before you can lead something like a Bridge-building project.
Not only are bridges highly regulated, but the people who are allowed to build bridges are highly regulated, at both the State and Federal levels.
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Now I'm not saying we enforce the highest regulation standards upon our CPU manufacturers. I'm basically saying "Stop coming up with bad examples". The incredibly safe examples you have brought up so far (Airline safety and Bridge Building) are the result of years of Government regulation and laws.
It seems you are really keen on government regulations. You can regulate as much as you want but if we can't build a safe bridge because we don't know the law of physics than legal considerations are pointless.
Yes. Which is why there are government regulations saying "Professional Engineers" (a regulated title btw) must know a certain level of physics before they are allowed to build a bridge.
