Aussie Gov't Decides ISPs Aren't Responsible For Infected Computers

c0lo writes "In a sudden outburst of common sense, the Australian senate decided that it is not the government's responsibility to force ISPs to disconnect infected computers from the Internet. Peter Coroneos, chief of the Internet Industry Association, used a car analogy that actually makes sense: 'It would be like forcing car manufacturers to take responsibility for bad drivers.'"

Comments

Backing off inappropriately

[mysidia]

'It would be like forcing car manufacturers to take responsibility for bad drivers.'"

No. it would be like making the DMV take responsibility for bad drivers on the highway, because the DMV issues the papers required for drivers to use the road.

The thing comparable "forcing car manufacturers to take responsibility", would be trying to force Dell, HP to take responsibility.

It should probably be noted that car manufacturers can be responsible for drivers going around in defective cars that have a high tendency to malfunction causing an accident unless the driver is an expert professional driver.

So it could make sense to hold Microsoft responsible for an OS with a horrible security record

Safety and Emissions Check

[akedia43]

Actually, if you're going to stick with cars, it's like a safety and emissions check in realtime. If your car is spewing excessive pollution or presents a hazard to other drivers (critical safety features like turn signals, head lights, tire treads, etc., missing or malfunctioning) they don't let you go around being a hazard on public roads. It makes sense for ISPs, in a uniquely capable position to detect it, to disconnect systems that are spewing malware and presenting a hazard to other computers on the network.