ziggy on Fri, 12 May 2000 17:11:59 -0400 (EDT)


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Re: [PLUG] Lawmakers want to blame McAffee for Lovebug


Arune wrote:
> On Fri, 12 May 2000, Bill Jonas wrote:
> 
> :http://partners.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/cyber/articles/11love.html
> 
> <RANT>
> Man it is people like this that is hindering technology.  If you dont know
> how it works dont get involved.  

I don't know how nanotech works, but when Bill Joy says it's
*REALLY DANGEROUS*, I'm worried.  I don't think my ignorance of 
nanotech should necessarily exclude me from a discussion of risks
created by nanotech.

> How can you logically point blame to
> someone or something if you do not know what it is your are really blaming
> them for in the first place.  

I hate to say it, but this is why we need people like Ralph Nader (did I
just say that?).  As a consumer advocate, it's his job to listen to
all of the whining, filter out the noise and amplify the signal.
If it weren't for people complaining about airbags (and not knowing
how they worked), would we know now that they're more likely to kill
women and children when they deploy?

It's surprising that no one has mentioned Peter G. Neumann's remarks to
congress yet.  He points out that The real problem here isn't that
McAfee didn't catch the love bug after they saw Melissa, it's that 
Microsoft is more interested in creeping featureitis than it is on 
minimizing the risks that come hand-in-hand with those features.

> Now am I off base with this thought?  Or does other people here agree?

Slightly.  Just because someone doesn't understand a technology
or the risks that come from that technology doesn't mean that they
have nothing worthwhile to contribute to that discussion.

Of course, there's a risk on the other side of the equation; running
off to pass laws with less than half a clue is a problem, which is why
we need more people like Peter G. Neumann explaining exactly *what*
the risks are.

Z.


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