Is 2012 a landmark year for Internet security bills, or is it just the tip of the iceberg?
So far this year we’ve had SOPA, CISPA, CSA and SECURE IT – the latter three still up for votes in the Senate or House. It’s doubtful that any of them will pass in the current legislative session but it does raise an interesting point: why are so many Internet protection bills suddenly coming up in Congress?
For one simple reason: for the first time since the War of 1812, the US cannot protect its borders.
We are witnessing the start of a massive shift in how sovereign countries assert power and control their borders. Until recently, global power has come down to controlling the world’s oceans, which the US Navy (and her allies) has done successfully since 1945. But now cyberspace is surpassing the world’s oceans as the primary means for transit, shipping goods and of course attack.
Part of the problem is the difficulty in developing policy over abstract concepts that are poorly understood by the public or any governing body. For example, cyberspace is not a place in the traditional terms. And its very nebulousness means there are tipping points in cyberspace that
