Coincidence?

1. A Microsoft executive calls for Internet "driver's licenses". A Time Warner columnist chimes in with an "opinion" piece.

2. War game reveals U.S. lacks cyber-crisis skills, thunders the Washington Post. The Bipartisan Policy Center, which sponsored the war game, has no blatant ties to the IP monopolies, but it was founded by the kinds of 'centrists'--Howard Baker, Bob Dole, Daschle, George Mitchell, Gephardt--who did not get where they are by bucking special interests.

I'm not questioning the threat. I'm questioning the government's capability to deal with it. I'm saying the government's first instinct is not to address the threat, but to use it as a pretext to expand its power. (Per Instapundit, it sounds like "they’re after powers more than skills, which is typical.")

3. Law enforcement special interests want to automate the process of searching a suspect's Web history. Note that they refer to 'legal process requests', not warrants. The whole system would be encrypted and access would be restricted to law enforcement.

Hey, what could go wrong? The policeman is my friend...
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Ben Franklin must be rolling in his grave.