Microsoft VP Suggests 'Net Tax To Clean Computers 577
Ian Lamont writes "Microsoft's Vice President for Trustworthy Computing, Scott Charney, speaking at the RSA conference in San Francisco, has floated an interesting proposal to deal with infected computers: Approach the problem of dealing with malware infections like the healthcare industry, and consider using 'general taxation' to pay for inspection and quarantine. Using taxes to deal with online criminal activity is not a new idea, as demonstrated by last year's Louisiana House vote to levy a monthly surcharge on Internet access to deal with online baddies."
Taxes are already paid. (Score:5, Insightful)
Taxes are already being paid on online transactions and a cut of every bill from your ISP.
The government can't handle the internet due to incompetence, not lack of money,
I totally agree (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm paying for WHAT? (Score:4, Insightful)
Does this mean that clueful people with secure computers are going to be required to pay to help clueless people with insecure computers?
Re:Tax Credit? (Score:4, Insightful)
People who do not have children to send to school, or oppose the wars, or do not drive cars do not get a tax credit.
Taxes are a collective action, not an individual purchase.
Then again, I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen given our legislators' feigned misunderstanding of progressive taxation or Keynesian spending.
In other words, (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not so much the principle of the thing as it is writing into law Microsoft's PR message that bugs in their software are "Computer Problems" or "Internet Problems."
On the other hand, if the charges were discounted for running non-MS systems, I might change my mind.
Like all new government programs (Score:4, Insightful)
1. Start a new program
2. Institute a new tax
3. Collect the tax, but don't put it in a lockbox.
4. Taxes are thrown into the general fund, where they're used to buy favors from senators and congressmen.
5. Program has no funding, is cut back and made useless except for an overpaid bureaucracy that does nothing.
6. When fiscal conservatives propose scrapping the program, they are instead blamed for the shortfall and taxes are raised to "fix" it.
7. Repeat from step 3.
Re:Free anti-virus with Internet service purchase! (Score:4, Insightful)
Or what's more stupid, is when norton sees it but doesn't clean it because the file is in use...
I've never trusted an antivirus to do what I can do manually. Antiviruses are great for an afterwards cleanup scan.
Re:I'm paying for WHAT? (Score:5, Insightful)
Everyone benefits from an internet largely free of infected machines. Just as everyone benefits from an educated and healthy society.
why not a fine instead (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is it if you drive a car that's unsafe to operate and something happens, nobody thinks twice about the fact that it's the owner's responsibility and when they are hit with a fine everyone just nods, but if it's a computer that's in poor condition (ie: infected), it's an issue that the community must bear to clean up. I realize that not everyone is technically adept and able maintain their machines adequately themselves, but I don't want to pay for them. They can hire someone to maintain their machines for them, much like most people do for their cars now, and perhaps the fine could be waved or reduced if they prove that they were current on their maintenance and somehow still got hit. Hell, it'd be a potentially decent revenue stream for repair-shops and even ISPs that want to offer some kind of maintenance package.
Of course, the problem here is that people don't feel they should pay for anything to do with a computer other than the price-tag they see when they go to BestBuy. They'll scream blue-murder if they're told that they actually have a responsibility, both financially and in how they operate their machine. Most people want to treat a computer the way they do their microwave oven, buy it, and if it breaks, replace it, but never, ever have to spend any time or money on maintenance.
Re:Free anti-virus with Internet service purchase! (Score:5, Insightful)
Can't be bothered?
Have you *used* anti-virus software lately? It takes over your computer and bogs everything down by scanning at irritating times, like every file access.
I don't use anti-virus software, except for the occasional one-off malware scan. I don't get viruses because I don't do stupid shit.
* I don't trust free downloads unless they're open source, or a google on "$SOFTWARE spyware" comes up clean.
* I don't browse porn (or anything else) on internet explorer.
* I don't browse porn with adblock turned off.
* I don't download stupid free desktop frills, like smileys and crap.
* I don't open obvious spam, even if it appears to be from my friends.
* When a webpage informs me that it has SCANNED MY COMPUTER and VIRUS DETECTED, I remember that I did not, in fact, install a virus scanner, and that the message is fake, and I do not have to install their special software to fix it. Instead, I close the web page.
* When doing p2p file-sharing, I use clients that are well known and spyware free.
* I don't put audio CDs into my machine when I'm running Windows, because they might install rootkits.
* I always click the "advanced" button when I install software, because that's where they hide the fact that they're installing a bunch of extra shit I don't want.
* Under no circumstances do I *ever* install Norton, which in my experience is far worse for performance than any virus.
Re:Tax Credit? (Score:3, Insightful)
With a ridiculous approach to taxation like that, how would an entire nation manage to pay for important things like invasions of foreign countries and bailing out mismanaged banks?
Oh wait...
Re:I'm paying for WHAT? (Score:3, Insightful)
So long as I get a tax credit (Score:5, Insightful)
I support it if I get a tax credit for not having any windows machines.
Re:Taxes are already paid. (Score:5, Insightful)
Personally, id rather the government stay out of my business.. If you demand they 'fix the problem', then they will be in your face every second you are online and you wont like the result.
Dear Microsoft Fuckwad: (Score:4, Insightful)
I run Mac OS X, you insensitive clod! Why should I pay to clean up YOUR CRAPPY OS?
Hey, here's an idea: Why not fix WINDOWS so it's not such promiscuous virus/trojan/worm whore?
Re:I totally agree (Score:5, Insightful)
Windows Update, by default, installs random DRM bullshit, Windows Media bullshit, WGA bullshit, and lots of other things that are not security patches. That motivates a lot of people to turn it off.
Re:Free anti-virus with Internet service purchase! (Score:5, Insightful)
M$ are the last people who should be calling for a tax since it's their broken shit that caused decades of headaches.
Yes they've gotten better but that doesn't wipe out all the crap we'd had to live with all these years.
However, I think the real issue for a lot of users who aren't savvy is that they might be fed up of the bloatware
crap like Symantec / Norton / McAfee which (used to?) suck so much in terms of CPU usage and disk activity.
Better, cheaper alternatives have been around for years - AntiVir, AVG, Kaspersky, for example.
And I must say that Microsoft Security Essentials isn't half bad.
Instead of their stupid EULA, perhaps M$ should put up a warning during install or first run that a security product
is required and used the lack of one as an automatic shutdown after 2 weeks instead of their activation.
'C' drive and registry. (Score:1, Insightful)
* I always click the "advanced" button when I install software, because that's where they hide the fact that they're installing a bunch of extra shit I don't want.
And to change the default drive from 'C' to something else.
'C' drive for OS, other drives for applications. I don't know what good it'll do me because if the 'C' drive goes, so does the registry and I think just about all of my installations of applications would have to be installed again anyway. The '.ini' file worked great in previous versions of Windows and OS/2 - geeze!
If the guy at MS who invented the registry is reading this, would you please commit Seppuku with a plastic picnic knife? Thank you.
Oh, you don't have to take out your family, the shame you brought on your family and ancestors for the next millennia is more than punishment enough.
How about we tax MS instead? (Score:5, Insightful)
The company who is nearly single handedly the reason why there is an anti-virus industry wants a tax to pay for malware removal? F#$% off.
We should fine MS $1000 for every infection on systems running their software. IE and Outlook exploits could probably pay off the US national debt in 10 years.
Re:Free anti-virus with Internet service purchase! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Free anti-virus with Internet service purchase! (Score:4, Insightful)
How about not pirating software at all? Ever think of that?
*begin rant*
Get a nice package, like CATIA or CS4. Put your nastiness in the .iso files along with the "crack." Upload to a bunch of bittorrent trackers.
???
Profit.
What, you think people *scan* their pirated software? Ever get into a discussion with a warez weenie? "Oh, those are just false positives. I _know_ it's not infected"
There is no honor in the warez scene anymore. Oh, sure, private trackers, you say. But Joe User doesn't have access to private trackers. The concept of an md5 sum flies straight over Joe User's head and makes his eyes glaze over when you try to explain what it is. Joe User is the perfect mark for this kind of stuff.
If you run pirated software, you're likely part of the problem.
*end rant*
--
BMO
Re:Tax Credit? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Free anti-virus with Internet service purchase! (Score:5, Insightful)
M$ are the last people who should be calling for a tax
I suggest a special cleanup tax on Microsoft software.
Re:Free anti-virus with Internet service purchase! (Score:2, Insightful)
All of these complaints are dealt with by Microsoft Security Essentials (maybe not H or D, but D is hardly a major complaint). I'm serious, it is install-and-forget. And most malware I've seen is lately is proxy through ads, flash, or javascript, requiring very little user action. So if you run Windows, unless you lock your browser down with noscript/adblock and don't run adobe software (or run your browser in a virtual machine) you pretty much need an antivirus, even if you have good habits.
Re:Alot of free anti-virus options (Score:2, Insightful)
Keeping in mind this is slashdot, come on, a basic understanding of their system? Most people drive cars every day, but have little clue of what actually makes the car go. And most simply don't care. If it breaks, they take it to a mechanic, and they do the same with computers. (Personally I pity anyone who's worked in a computer repair shop, your heads must hurt awfully bad when you hear someone say "my internet is broken.")
When it comes to computers:
People will always punch the monkey.
People will always install the 'free' toolbar.
People will always download executable attachments.
People will always pick one of the 'top 10 easily guessed' passwords
People will always $STUPID_MOVE_HERE.
I think we are technologically-informed than we were 10 years ago, just not any wiser in the actual use of it.
Why should we pay for infected machines? (Score:3, Insightful)
I fully agree with ISPs taking down the accounts of compromised machines, and calling the owner to let them know that they won't be allowed back online until they get the machine cleaned (which will likely cost money.)
I do not agree with the idea of a general "tax" to pay for the stupidity of people who insist on breaking the above common-sense rules. Why should I pay for someone else's ignorant behaviour?
Re:Free anti-virus with Internet service purchase! (Score:3, Insightful)
[quote]I'd rather see ISPs voluntarily cracking down on spam-generating machines than be forced to pay a tax in an attempt to make up for my neighbor*'s ignorance. [/quote]
Why not fine the owners of spam generating machines to fund it, rather than using general taxation? That way, as long as you keep your PC malware free, you do not pay.
Re:Tax Credit? (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah, I think WWII really demonstrated how effective that strategy was when it was used at the Treaty of Versailles.
Re:Free anti-virus with Internet service purchase! (Score:3, Insightful)
I use Avast! too and it's quite goo-VIRUS DATABASE HAS BEEN UPDATED!
Just make sure you turn the sounds off...