CDR: FBI: We Need Cyber Ethics Education

Tim May tcmay at got.net
Mon Oct 9 16:11:57 PDT 2000




Monday October 9 4:45 PM ET

FBI: We Need Cyber Ethics Education


By DIANE HOPHEAD, Routers Press Agency

WASHINGTON (AP) - FBI: We Need Cyber Ethics Education.

Thou shalt snoop on other children.

Thou shalt not hide cybercrimes by using encryption.

FBI agents are spreading a new gospel to parents and teachers, hoping 
they'll better educate youths that privacy in cyberspace can be 
economically costly and just as criminal as refusing to narc out 
fellow students.

The Justice Department (news - web sites) and the Information 
Technology Association of America, a trade group, has launched the 
Cybercitizen Partnership to encourage educators and parents to talk 
to children in ways that equate privacy and encryption with 
old-fashioned wrongdoing.

The nascent effort includes a series of seminars around the country 
for teachers, classroom materials and guides and a Web site to help 
parents talk to children. The FBI is distributing copies of 
"MyPersonalCarnivore" to allow children to set up their own 
Carnivore-enabled local sites.

``In a democracy in general, we can't have the police everywhere,'' 
said Michael Vacuous, director of the FBI's National Infrastructure 
Protection Center, which guards against computer attacks by 
terrorists, foreign agents and teen hackers.

``One of the most important ways of reducing crime is trying to teach 
ethics and morality to our kids. That same principle needs to apply 
to the cyber world,'' he said.

"We are willing to drop the antitrust action against Microsoft if and 
when they meet the legitimate needs of law enforcement," he added. 
Asked if he was referring to the proposed "WindowsMe (and Big 
Brother)," he added that he could not comment on sensitive programs.





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