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posted by on Wednesday February 15 2017, @04:18PM   Printer-friendly
from the name-rank-and-serial-number dept.

Microsoft's President Brad Smith is calling for a Digital Geneva Convention:

Microsoft is calling for a Digital Geneva Convention, as global tensions over digital attacks continue to rise. The tech giant wants to see civilian use of the internet protected as part of an international set of accords, Brad Smith, the company's president and chief legal officer, said in a blog post.

The manifesto, published alongside his keynote address at the RSA conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, argued for codifying recent international norms around cyberwarfare and for establishing an independent agency to respond to and analyze cyberattacks.

From the blog post:

Just as the Fourth Geneva Convention has long protected civilians in times of war, we now need a Digital Geneva Convention that will commit governments to protecting civilians from nation-state attacks in times of peace. And just as the Fourth Geneva Convention recognized that the protection of civilians required the active involvement of the Red Cross, protection against nation-state cyberattacks requires the active assistance of technology companies. The tech sector plays a unique role as the internet's first responders, and we therefore should commit ourselves to collective action that will make the internet a safer place, affirming a role as a neutral Digital Switzerland that assists customers everywhere and retains the world's trust.

Also at The Seattle Times and USA Today.


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  • (Score: 3, Touché) by Justin Case on Wednesday February 15 2017, @04:45PM

    by Justin Case (4239) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @04:45PM (#467447) Journal

    Software is a tool. What you do with it is on you.

    By crappy software I meant software that is badly designed, sloppily coded, or deliberately malicious toward the user. If you choose to infer that MS creates a lot of that, I can't argue.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by q.kontinuum on Wednesday February 15 2017, @10:25PM

    by q.kontinuum (532) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @10:25PM (#467627) Journal

    Actually, computer ethics is a field where it is attempted to develop ethical rules for system administrators, software developers and related professions. I think it is justified to expect from professionals zo think about the consequences of their developments.

    --
    Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
  • (Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday February 16 2017, @04:49AM

    by anubi (2828) on Thursday February 16 2017, @04:49AM (#467718) Journal

    Vapors coming back home to roost?

    He who smelt it dealt it. [wiktionary.org]

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
  • (Score: 2) by Wootery on Thursday February 16 2017, @12:04PM

    by Wootery (2341) on Thursday February 16 2017, @12:04PM (#467757)

    Software is a tool. What you do with it is on you.

    Morally speaking, that's hardly the whole story.

    Not all software-development is morally neutral. Neither are all arms-sales.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 16 2017, @12:39PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 16 2017, @12:39PM (#467763)

    "Software is a tool. What you do with it is on you.

    By crappy software I meant software that is badly designed, sloppily coded, or deliberately malicious toward the user. If you choose to infer that MS creates a lot of that, I can't argue."

    Don't forget hardware...