2nd Amendment rights on the internet?
The article about computer counter-measures on the internet that I mentioned in a recent entry is very interesting, like I said, and Mr. Paco Nathan (a chief officer for Symbiot Security) has obviously been doing some thinking on this topic. From the article though it is unclear whether one issue was overlooked or not mentioned by choice.
In any internet security scheme where there is such a thing as counter-measures, it is going to be an absolute necessity and absolute certainty that the consumer will have access to such tools as well. Just as in our society today we do not allow guns to be outlawed so tyranny will always find an inhospitable host, so will we find it necessary for the people to be able to defend their personal property rights and freedom in the virtual world.
Unfortunately, I can envision the day when internet travel is limited just as travel is today. We will only be able to go where we are welcome and where we are provided protection by the United States military or the police. Hostile states and neighborhoods provide no protection from computer attack and may even pro-actively attack any unauthorized entry. You may get mugged for your credit card information in certain “neighborhoods”.
Nathan certainly mentions the rights of internet users in his article, but it seems he focuses primarily on the context of consumer protection. I think these rights are to be protected by policies instituted by those who offer consumer services.
Over the course of the next few years there will be a major shift in the thinking around how the Internet is managed. The engineering details of that shift have far more to do with the advanced mathematics used by financial analysts and the protocols used by military operations than most of today’s computer programmers and network administrators may imagine. The end result, however, will be readily familiar to the consumer: It will be an on-line world where privacy and freedoms are protected, and risk is managed by the rules of credit cards and shopping.
I believe we have found over and over again that power corrupts. Corporate organizations certainly have not been exempt from this maxim. Personally, I don’t want my internet experience regulated by credit card rules unless I happen to be using a credit card.
The ability to hamper me from effectively using my computing resources would be a serious blow to my ability to provide for my family, regardless of who is doing the hampering. I dont want a credit card company hampering my abilty to use the internet any more than I do the the credit card thief. Threatening one’s livelihood can get you shot in Texas. Similarly, I want the ability, as a law abiding citizen, to be able to “shoot” someone who is threatening my livelihood on the internet. Especially when they already have the ability to “shoot” me.
Boiled down, when it comes to our computers, our constitutional rights must apply. In the virtual world the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms equates to the right to acquire and implement counter-measures.
From a seperate interview with the chief officers of Symbiot, who developes counter-measure solutions, Tim Mullins is linked with a comment that sums up my point of view well:
“The moment that I begin to incur costs, or the integrity of services that I pay for is reduced by any degree, is the moment that I have the right to do something about it.”
Sign me up!