Top Microsoft executive Proposes Government Licensing Internet Access

Top Microsoft executive Proposes Government Licensing Internet Access, A new proposal by a top Microsoft executive would open the door for government licensing to access the Internet, with authorities being empowered to block individual computers from connecting to the world wide web under the pretext of preventing malware attacks. Speaking to the ISSE 2010 computer security conference in Berlin yesterday, Scott Charney, Microsoft vice president of Trustworthy Computing, said that cybersecurity should mirror public health safety laws, with infected PC's being "quarantined" by government decree and prevented from accessing the Internet. "If a device is known to be a danger to the internet, the user should be notified and the device should be cleaned before it is allowed unfettered access to the internet, minimizing the risk of the infected device contaminating other devices," Charney said. Charney said the system would be a "global collective defense" run by corporations and government and would "track and control" people's computers similar to how government health bodies track diseases.