Do We Need Email Customs Agents?
from the a-national-e-border dept
Simson Garfinkel's latest column makes the argument that we should protect our national borders from email coming from certain countries. The argument is based on the idea that we rely on the US government, military and customs service to protect us from dangerous phsyical items getting into the country - shouldn't we do the same for digital items? He points out that while many of us secure our own computers, that's because we're technically savvy. However, we don't build a fortress around our homes, because we pay our taxes assuming the US government will protect us from foreign attack - so perhaps they should be protecting our electronic homes as well. It's an interesting idea, and one that I had not heard of before. I can see both sides of the argument, and I'm not yet sure where I stand on the issue (though, I tend to usually not like anything that blocks out something). Anyone else have any thoughts?Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Government Protection
Let the government focus on stopping the planes from crashing into buildings in downtown NY and let us worry about our own harddrives.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Government Protection
[ link to this | view in thread ]