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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