Do We Need A New, Safer Internet?

Patrick Dempsey thinks so, but Ars Technica says no

By Laila Weir, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 29, 2008 12:35 PM CST

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Do We Need A New, Safer Internet? — Alan M. Ralsky poses in his West Bloomfield, Mich., office in this July 30, 2002, file photo. Ralsky is described as one of America's most prolific senders of spam e-mail and was among 11 people accused in an indictment of defrauding people by manipulating Chinese stock prices, U.S. Attorney Stephen... (Associated Press)

Online debate exploded after former FBI agent Patrick Dempsey said Wednesday that a second, safer Internet is needed. "The same positives that the Internet provides for information sharing, also create negatives in terms of ‘bringing to task' those that wish to use the Internet for illicit purposes," wrote Dempsey. But Nate Anderson in Ars Technica argues security and accountability are software and human problems, not Internet ones.

These problems can and are being addressed via better email software, operating systems and browsers, he writes. Dempsey also highlighted jurisdiction problems that hamper international Internet crime fighting, but Anderson argued this also isn’t a technical problem with the Internet itself. (More Internet security stories.)

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