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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 fustakrakich on Wednesday February 15 2017, @05:55PM

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @05:55PM (#467490) Journal

    The Geneva convention is doing a pretty lousy job of protecting civilians in a war zone. Either way, trust is paramount, and we just don't have that in this world of corruption and gangsterism.

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
  • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15 2017, @10:58PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15 2017, @10:58PM (#467642)

    The blog specifically mentioned the Fourth Geneva Convention, which was in 1949. Nothing that happened before then counts. And it does seem to be working, with the possible exceptions of the First Indochina War, Paraguayan Civil War, Costa Rican Civil War, First Arab-Israeli War, Malayan Emergency, Chinese Invasion of Tibet, Korean War, Mau Mau Uprising, Second Indochina War, Vietnam War, Laotian Civil War, Cambodian Civil War, Algerian War of Independence, First Sudanese Civil War, Suez War (Second Arab-Israeli War), Hungarian Uprising, Cuban Revolution, Ifni War, Lebanon crisis of 1958, "Congo Crisis", Guatemalan Civil War, Bay of Pigs Invasion, Angolan War of Independence, Invasion of Goa, Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation,
    Guinea-Bissauan War of Independence, Sino-Indian War,
    Indonesian annexation of Western New Guinea, Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, Yemen Civil War, Dhofar Rebellion, Sand War, Mozambican War of Independence, Colombian Armed Conflict, Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Chadian Civil War, Indonesian Civil War, South African Border War, Namibian War of Independence, Second Chimurenga(Rhodesian Bush War), Six-Day War (Third Arab-Israeli War), Nigerian Civil War, Communist insurgency in the Philippines, War of Attrition, Islamic Insurgency in the Philippines, Football War, Sino-Soviet border conflict, The Troubles in Northern Ireland, Bangladesh Liberation War, Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Libya-Sudan conflict, Yom Kippur War (Fourth Arab-Israeli War), Turkish Invasion of Cyprus, Ethiopian Civil War, Angolan Civil War, Western Sahara conflict, Lebanese Civil War, Indonesian invasion of East Timor, East Timorese War of Independence, Mozambican Civil War, Independence War in Cabinda,Libyan-Egyptian War, Ogaden War, Cambodian-Vietnamese War, Israeli Invasion of Lebanon, The Aceh War, Uganda-Tanzania War, Chadian-Libyan conflict, Sino-Vietnamese War, First Chadian Civil war, Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, Soviet war in Afghanistan, Chadian-Libyan conflict, El Salvador Civil War, Iran-Iraq War, Internal conflict in Peru, Paquisha War, Ugandan Bush War, Falklands War, Israeli Invasion of Lebanon, U.S. Invasion of Grenada, Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, Second Sudanese Civil War, Kurdish insurgency in Turkey, Free Papua Movement, Siachin War, Agacher Strip War, First Intifada, Second Ugandan Civil War, Casamance Conflict, Somali Civil War, Nagorno-Karabakh war, Mauritania-Senegal Border War, U.S. Invasion of Panama, First Liberian Civil War, Romanian Revolution, Kashmir conflict, Gulf War, Rwandan Civil War, Tuareg Rebellion, Algerian Civil War, Yugoslav Wars, Slovenian War, Croatian War of Independence, Bosnian War, Presevo valley crisis, Macedonia conflict, Georgian Civil War, South Ossetian War, War in Abkhazia, Sierra Leone Civil War, Tajikistan Civil War, Conflict in the Niger Delta, Burundi Civil War, Ethnic conflict in Nagaland, India, Brazilian gang violence, 1994 Yemeni Civil War, First Chechen War, Second Chadian Civil War, NATO bombing of Republika Srpska, Cenepa War, First Congo War, Nepal Civil War, Unrest in Albania, Ethiopia-Eritrea War, U.S. bombings of Afghanistan and Sudan, U.S. bombing of Iraq, Second Congo War, Ituri Conflict, Kargil War, Dagestan War, Second Chechen War, Second Liberian Civil War, Al-Aqsa Intifada, Conflict in Laos involving the Hmong, Indo-Bangladesh Border Conflict of 2001, U.S. Invasion of Afghanistan, Civil War in Cote d'Ivoire, Balochistan conflict, Pakistan, Central African War, Darfur conflict, Sudan, Central African Republic Civil War, Chad-Sudan conflict, Central African War, Iraq War, Waziristan War, Haiti rebellion, Sa'dah conflict, Israel-Lebanon conflict, Palestinian factional violence, Mexican Drug War, and the War in Somalia.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 16 2017, @01:05AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 16 2017, @01:05AM (#467682)

      Trying to read your comment was like a war of attrition. I lost.