Should Internet users be licensed?

Microsoft Exec Calls For 'Driver's License For The Internet' [Techdirt]

Has the Internet become so dangerous that users should receive some type of certification of their ability to use it safely? That's the idea that Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, Craig Mundie, has suggested, calling it a "driver's license" for Internet users. 

Here's what Mundie told Agence France-Presse:

"People don't understand the scale of criminal activity on the internet. Whether criminal, individual or nation states, the community is growing more sophisticated," the Microsoft executive said.

"We need a kind of World Health Organization for the Internet," he said.

"When there is a pandemic, it organizes the quarantine of cases. We are not allowed to organize the systematic quarantine of machines that are compromised."

He also called for a "driver's license" for internet users.

"If you want to drive a car you have to have a license to say that you are capable of driving a car, the car has to pass a test to say it is fit to drive and you have to have insurance."

There are numerous threats online that take advantage of unassuming users. And there are new threats emerging every day that even experienced Internet users can fall victim to. Private companies and the federal government are working to fundamental questions about Internet security. Incidents like the hacker intrusion into Google and other American companies in December of last year has only added to the urgency of answering those questions with an overall strategy for cyber-security.

Should that strategy include a requirement that Internet users receive a certification before they can go online? What do you think?

Comments

[Chris Buechler]

This discussion goes back many, many years amongst security and network professionals. Could it improve things? Possibly. The consensus is it's completely impractical if not impossible to implement given the nature of the Internet, and even if implemented, its effectiveness would be questionable at best. I'm surprised people are still bringing it up.

[Mark]

I don't think a license is the right way to go, but I do think that schools should offer some type of class (similar to a typing class) that would teach the basics in Internet safety. I think that a basic education on the threats that reside on the Internet could go a very long way, or at least it does with my clients.

[ARGO]

Maybe we need to license all Americans? = NOT

[Shawn Smith]

This would be an insane invasion of individual rights. In guns, car's, and other things that require a license, a mistake could cause direct damage to others if not used properly.

The internet has no such risk. If a computer causes pain by accident, it's only due to the ignorance of the user, and cannot hurt anyone but the user. If it's not an accident, these people will have no trouble passing a knowledge test about the internet.

Before it's pointed out that a business accident hurts many, it's because those many agree to become and do the "business" that made the mistake, once again, going back to the ignorant being hurt.

Instead of trying to limit access to the internet, make internet education a mandatory part of high school so that people have the option to learn, but can still make their own choice.

[DCW]

I think the point of suggesting licensing for internet users is an interesting "driver" comparison.

It is not the on-line world it once was. It is changing and becoming more complex at a rate of speed high enough for the mega super information highway-ers to occassionally shudder. As we bravely and perhaps blindly jump onto our screens clicking and downloading a newest, neatest- we assume no-one out there is waiting for a chance to run over us.

BEEP, BEEP ... RIP

Welcome to the new REAL world.