This thread reminds me of leaving an uninsured and unlocked Ferrari in a bad neighborhood with the key in the ignition, and then complaining when someone finally stole it.
Words cannot describe my kneejerk reaction to this in a PG-13 manner.
It's a little bit different though. You see, a computer often holds a LOT of personal information, such as banking, and thus is a far more valuable asset than even a car, which, while a sad loss, can nonetheless be replaced. If a person was to steal your car, you could get a new one. If a person was to steal your banking info, they could BANKRUPT you. Which one is more severe, do you think?
Conclusion A: Policing should be extended to the internet, to prevent such nasty things. It's a little bit difficult to compare e-occurances with real occurances, but I don't think it'd be unfair for everybody to have anti-virus protection, especially considering this means hiring these virtual enforcers is a lot cheaper than hiring real ones, who have to be paid wages.
Conclusion B: Apologists for misfortune by blaming it on the person it happened to sicken me even further. More reason to never consider myself a member of the Libertarians. Nobody is equal, in capability, outcome, or any other quality. That's what just about everyone forgets in one way or another.
But not just complaining, but complaining that the police don't have enough power to prevent such things, meanwhile the local police and government offices are getting their own official cars stolen in their own parking lots.
I dunno whether this was in support of me or against me, but I think it was in support of my idea.
You're right about what I think, though. I think there needs to be more enforcement in the e-area, and rather than hire a bazillion police officers, it can be done, for the most part, by simplying providing anti-virus protection. Paying 100 dollars a year for antivirus protection would, for the most part, make more sense than hiring a police officer for a much larger wage(I imagine, I don't know the exact numbers, probably in the 40-50K range so it's a living wage).
What is there to lose in providing access to this extra security for all, while preserving the innovation of the private sector? We get everybody protected, and it benefits us all personally and nationally, to have greater police power on the internet, if only through the "virtual" police in the form of antivirus programs.
It's the government's duty to protect the lives and property of it's citizens. While our lives are generally not endangered by a virus, it still is the government's job to provide e-security for the sake of our property, which CAN be endangered by a virus, regardless of if it scams us out of money(unfair business practices I'm sure, never mind the whole hacking into your computer part), or if it launches a full-scale assault on your banking information.
you don't have to use any pay software to secure your home computer. all it takes is proper precaution
...I only frequent a handful of sites. I think blaming everything on the person is a bit unfair.
Of course, usually hacked computers are often a direct result of either careless downloading/installing crap. The security firms aren't to blame for your own negligence
Again, I doubt this is entirely my fault. And I doubt innocently walking outside your normal array of sites counts as "negligence." That's like saying walking out of your frequented physical locations and getting shot in some crossfire was "negligence."
If you don't lock your door, or your car or if you leave your window open when going out you shouldn't be surprised when somebody breaks into your house.
That should be obvious, but I agree.
Prevention isn't really the police's job.
...Prevention of crime makes
far more sense than rehabilitation of crime, as it prevents crime from ever occurring by definition. What about preventing murder, rape, etc. Why not extend it to theft and everything else, especially if it's easy to do so?
Maybe they could work more to track down the people who put out viruses.
Aye. And make the penalty quite extreme, too. Considering that is more or less killing artificial police officers and creates so much misery for so many people, the penalty should be quite steep. Not death by any means(some would argue too radical, others inefficient), but I wouldn't rule out life imprisonment for these scumbags.
Since the person's just a cyber crime boss, anyway, and should be put permanently behind bars like a real crime boss.
It's not them getting paid for their work. You don't see me complaining that the police are funded by taxes or that we pay the supermarket for food. It's the fact that they'll oh so generously scan your computer... and then demand money to remove anything they find. Makes me wonder if they're actually legit, as Vista Security does the SAME damned thing. The only difference is that it launches itself.
This is why I support allowing private businesses to still run and operate, so people don't have to use the government software, or even the subsidy. It's like choosing between having the police or private security firms.
