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License to Surf, Take Two

Posted by michael on from the do-you-know-how-fast-you-were-going,-sir? dept.

NaugaHunter writes "A story on Yahoo asks Should [a] License Be Required to Go Online? It appears to be suggested by Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer for Counterpane Internet Security Inc. 'It could be a four-year college degree, a one-month course. It might be a good idea.' The story also details efforts of some schools from simple orientation to threats of fines for spreading viruses, and questions exactly who would be responsible for keeping track of who is and isn't licensed." Not a new idea, but one that's going to keep coming up. Update: 09/13 18:11 GMT by M : Bruce Schneier notes that he isn't in favor of computer licenses.

3 of 503 comments (clear)

  1. Just Hold Responsible by 2starr · · Score: 5, Informative

    I help administer an apartment/dorm-ish complex at a university. Basically the approach we're taking is letting people know what's expected: virus checker, etc. If an incident occurs and we find the person wasn't taking adequate precautions, they get fined.
    I don't think you can require people to do stuff like take classes, but if they're neglegent, they should be held responsible.

    --

    "Let your heart soar as high as it will. Refuse to be average." - A. W. Tozer

  2. Re:While we're at it... by ncc74656 · · Score: 3, Informative
    And does the spammer pay, or does the pour sap with the open relay just get their connection yanked and faced with a bill they (arguably) didn't deserve?

    A luser who runs an open relay and gets socked with a huge bandwidth bill (or worse) on account of spammers using his mailer deserves whatever he gets. Setting up an MTA to only accept outbound mail from selected hosts is trivial, if the software is well-designed. With the access-control software that's available (whether it's an SSH tunnel, POP-before-SMTP, or whatever), there is absolutely no reason whatsoever for anybody to run an open relay.

    --
    20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
  3. Re:All I can say is WOW. by SW6 · · Score: 3, Informative
    The TV and telephone are different, [...] you do in fact need a license to run a TV station.

    Interesting factoid: all telephone use in (at least) the UK is actually licensed. Sure, it's a class license (essentially the kit is licensed by virtue of it being idiot-proof enough to allow the unwashed masses to use it safely) but it's still a license. This license can be, and sometimes is, withdrawn from individuals or groups if they're causing problems with the system.