Slashdot Mirror
Feds Recruiting ISPs To Combat Cyber Threats
ygslash writes "The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have established a pilot program with leading private defense contractors and ISPs called DIB Cyber Pilot in an attempt to strengthen each others' knowledge base regarding growing security threats in cyberspace. The new program was triggered by recent high-profile hacks of the International Monetary Fund and many others. But don't worry — Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn promises that the new program will not involve "monitoring, intercepting, or storing any private sector communications" by the DOD and DHS."
While I have my doubts about this program but this drum beat of 'America has really gone downhill' is pretty much nonsense. Every decade we have more not less personal freedoms, try being gay, black, Irish, communist, female, etc etc etc in various parts of the past 100+ years. Watch South Park and then envision watching it 15 years ago or even when it first came out.
The biggest change I can see in the past 20 years is increased awareness by the public, largely helped by the internet, of limits to freedom. The limits don't come into being when you become aware of them, they are/were there all along. The net effect is a (granted miserably) slow erosion of those limits.
If you're idea of freedom is perfect anarchy then you're pretty much humped.
The points above are not in defense of the alphabet soup agency plans in the article, just refuting that it's evidence of a net downward slide, it's really just the step back in the 1.1 step forward 1 step back dance.