Obama Eschews Cyber-Hysteria

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Plenty to digest in Obama's new cyber-security policy statement, and I plan to do so after grading is finished.

Meanwhile, here's the very best part, from the President's remarks:

“Let me also be clear about what we will not do,” the president said during the announcement. “Our pursuit of cyber security will not — I repeat, will not include — monitoring private sector networks or Internet traffic. We will preserve and protect the personal privacy and civil liberties that we cherish as Americans. Indeed, I remain firmly committed to Net Neutrality so we can keep the Internet as it should be — open and free.”

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7 Responses to Obama Eschews Cyber-Hysteria

  1. James Vasile says:
    May 29, 2009 at 4:36 pm

    Given Obama’s willingness to support spying on Americans and then hiding the evidence, is there any reason to think “We will preserve and protect the personal privacy and civil liberties that we cherish as Americans.” is a meaningful commitment?

    In practice, Obama supports spying on Americans. He says he opposes wholesale evisceration of the 4th Amendment (and I believe he is sincere), but every time he has to actually decide whether the American government can engage in such activities, he it seems he can’t resist choosing the spying.

  2. Just me says:
    May 29, 2009 at 4:54 pm

    James, I was thinking the same thing. It seems that Mr. Obama has been scared by the realities of the dangerous world out there (and daily briefings on the same) and does not have the courage to do what his principles once told him was right. Think closing Guantanamo, releasing pictures of abu ghraib, etc.

  3. gore_II says:
    May 29, 2009 at 6:08 pm

    No but you will have to attach a fingerprinting device to your computer to get on and off the Internet.

    Also from what I hear the cyber-Czar will paint the Internet white to cure global warming.

  5. fool says:
    May 30, 2009 at 12:00 pm

    What kind of fool believes anything Obama says? In the blink of an eye he has ballooned government and its control over the economy. He won’t touch the Internet?

    You don’t see he’s cloaking government control with “national cyber-security?”

    One could start a sweater factory by shearing all the sheep on this blog.

  6. joe says:
    May 31, 2009 at 12:13 pm

    Michael, you know Spaf, don’t you?

    Last Friday, on the CERIAS weblog, Gene Spafford (Purdue) posted “A Cynic’s Take on Cyber Czars and 60-day Reports”.

     . . .

    Basically, I think the President had the right intentions when all this started, but the realpolitik of the White House and current events have watered them down, resulting in action that basically endorses only a slight change from the status quo.

    I could be wrong. I hope I’m wrong. But experience has shown that it is almost impossible to be too cynical in this area. In a year or so we can look back at this and we’ll all know. But what we heard today certainly isn’t what Candidate Obama promised last July.

     

     

    Pay attention to what Spaf has to say about internet security.

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