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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: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Wednesday February 15 2017, @05:42PM

    by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @05:42PM (#467476)

    I have not read TFA yet (up modded somebody who obviously did), but the motivation is simple:
    Microsoft wants to remain the dominant OS supplier for a variety of devices.

    That does not work if multitudes of "civilian" users migrate to something more secure.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15 2017, @06:16PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15 2017, @06:16PM (#467502)

    When their old customers start dying off maybe we'll see cracks in the MS monopoly on cell phones.

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Wednesday February 15 2017, @11:32PM

      by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @11:32PM (#467648)

      You pay the Microsoft tax every time you buy a cell-phone.

      B&N claims that Android has done in a few short years what Microsoft has been unable to do in 8 or 9 years, that is make a winning mobile OS. So now faced with failure in innovation, it is trying to leverage patents it filed or bought to put a stranglehold on Android. As claimed by B&N the money they make on each Android device sold equals to or is greater than what they make on a Windows Mobile phone. So in essence Android makers have to buy a Windows Mobile phone license for each Android set they sell. Much like PC makers did with Windows back in the day.

      - Barnes & Noble Blows The Lid Off Microsoft's Android Patent Squeeze [networkworld.com]