Identity crisis: How an anti-porn crusade could jam the Internet, featuring Alec Muffett: Lock and Code S04E11

On January 1, 2023, the Internet in Louisiana looked a little different than the Internet in Texas, Mississippi, and Arkansas--its next-door state neighbors. And on May 1, the Internet in Utah looked quite different, depending on where you looked, than the Internet in Arizona, or Idaho, or Nevada...

Reforming CDA 230

There's a serious debate on reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. I am in the process of figuring out what I believe, and this is more a place to put resources and listen to people's comments. The EFF has written extensively on why it is so important and dismantling it will be...

New Book Announcement: Click Here to Kill Everybody

I am pleased to announce the publication of my latest book: Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World. In it, I examine how our new immersive world of physically capable computers affects our security. I argue that this changes everything about security. Attac...

My Blogging

Blog regulars will notice that I haven't been posting as much lately as I have in the past. There are two reasons. One, it feels harder to find things to write about. So often it's the same stories over and over. I don't like repeating myself. Two, I am busy writing a book. The title is still:...

Advocates Seek 'Smart Regulation' of Surveillance Technology

The long shadow cast by the use of surveillance technology and so-called lawful intercept tools has spread across much of the globe and has sparked a renewed push in some quarters for restrictions on the export of these systems. Politicians and policy analysts, discussing the issue in a panel...

Civil Liberties Groups Wary As Little Known UN Body Seeks Greater Role In Regulating Internet

A little known United Nations body, The International Telecommunications Union ITU, is quietly making moves that would give that U.N. and its 192 member-states increased control of the Internet according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. An internal ITU planning document leaked to the Web...

Tor anonymity will become illegal with SOPA acts ?

Tor anonymity will become illegal with SOPA acts ? The Stop Online Piracy Act SOPA is the newest attempt by Congress and corporations in the United States to regulate the Internet. SOPA's proponents include the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry of America. They view...

Report: U.S. Is Hyping Threat Of Cyber War

A new report suggests that lawmakers, policy wonks and corporations are sensationalizing the risk of cyber attacks far beyond the actual threat. The inflation of cyber security threat, like the inflation of the threat of Communism during the Cold War, or terrorist acts in the wake of the 9/11...

New cybersecurity czar faces a tough road

While much of the reaction to President Obama’s speech on Internet security last week has centered on who Obama will name to the newly created cybersecurity coordinator position, that may be a moot point unless there is a dramatic change in the way that security is handled at the highest levels i...