Aussie Gov't Decides ISPs Aren't Responsible For Infected Computers 129
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.'"
Backing off inappropriately (Score:5, Insightful)
'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
Metaphor (Score:3, Insightful)
It would be like forcing an ISP to take responsibility for a copyright infringer.
Not required, just recommended (Score:3, Insightful)
The government shouldn't be requiring ISPs to disconnect infected computers, no. But ISPs still should be disconnecting infected computers. Not computers that don't run the ISP's anti-virus package, not computers that aren't up-to-date on Windows, but computers that're actively showing the tell-tale signatures of known infections (including spewing spam e-mail). If a computer shows up infected, the user should be warned. If the infection isn't removed fairly soon after, the computer should be disconnected until the user contacts the ISP about solutions.
Think of it like a medical quarantine. We don't quarantine you just because you haven't had your shots. But once you're diagnosed with the actual infectious diseases, you're quarantined until either you get medical treatment and are cured, you get over the infectious stage on your own or you die.
It's more like... (Score:2, Insightful)
The analogies are pointless. It comes down to factors such as feasability, harm done, harm prevented and responsibility. An ISP is capable of disconnecting the computers from the internet. Forcing them to do so would prevent harm. So it comes to whether the cure is worse than the disease.
The ISPs make the perfectly reasonable point that the goals can be achieved by self regulation, and this will be much more flexible. On the whole the ISPs are should be in favour of removing infected computers. They're an expensive annoyance.
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
a bit shocked by the reaction of the slashdot crow (Score:1, Insightful)
How does the governement decide whether a computer is infected or not?
Does running a P2P program counts as "infected"?
I understand that to decide whether a computer is infected or not, one would have to store and analyze the network traffic with DPI.
Do you also want the government to close their eyes when they see which websites you browse, and the content of your emails? (which is usually not encrypted)
Finally, does "infected computers" include computers from political oponents, like in China?
I actually had a few jokes to say about this story but I have to admit now that sometimes people on /. make me sick, not because they are bad inside, more because they don't really see anything wrong with totalitarism.
Re:What.... (Score:3, Insightful)
That is what you get these days with the balance of power being held by the Greens and independents. It used to be that the independents and small parties would come up with the looney ideas, but more and more we are seeing the big parties filling that role. EG. The Internet Filter aka The Great Firewall of Australia.
Re:Backing off inappropriately (Score:5, Insightful)
More correctly, it would be more like forcing toll road operators to take responsibility for preventing the use of a car in a crime.
No, it's like forcing hookers to refuse service to customers with visible signs of infection.
Sorry, but the car analogies were getting on my nerves.
Should be done anyway! (Score:3, Insightful)
Any responsible ISP should be doing this voluntarily anyway. My ISP (Exetel) redirects you to a page telling you that you are infected and telling you how to fix it (and giving links to AV software hosted on their servers). Cars have mandatory yearly inspections or they aren't allowed on the road so Peter Coroneos was just trying to dodge legal liability not talking any kind of sense.
Botnets are a huge organised crime business and any ISP that isn't fighting them is either incompetent or is profiting from botnets (either being paid by the mob or making money selling DDOS protection and the like).
Two faces of OZ! (Score:1, Insightful)
The government doesn,t force ISPs to disconect infected computers, but it will MONITOR all the computers, FILTER available content to users, LOG users access, and RESTRICT access, at its own discretion of course! Good to see its not doing anything to stop viruses, and malware and spam. . . . . .
Safety and Emissions Check (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Not that great of a car analogy... (Score:3, Insightful)
The government however is *not* responsible for licensing people to communicate with each other over the internet.
And it should not be.
the day you need a liscence to have the privaliage of talking to other people is the day that free speach is well and truely dead and burried.
Re:Not that great of a car analogy... (Score:1, Insightful)
Bartkid sez,
I have always taken the view that the manufacturers of computers, because they do not sell pre-installed firewall and anti-virus software are just like a car manufacturer selling vehicles without brakes.
So, when my dad who knows nothing about this stuff, bought his computer, it was immediately infected.
So, when the computer became very useless, he took it back to the shop. Only then did he get sold the software to protect him. Thanks; sheesh.
A commenter further down draws an analogy to medical quarantine. I agree with this.
If a member of the population is infected with a nasty communicable illness, they need to be removed from the general population until healthy again.
I would think more ISPs would be more proactive in removing infectous zombified machines, if for nothing else but self-interest. Analogy #3 here: It is just like a baseball stadium security staff removing a beligerent drunk from other paying customers' seating so they may enjoy the game in peace.