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1993-09-30
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The Electronic Identity
Robert Parson
Arming for Peace
For almost three years now we've watched the former Soviet
Union change from a socialist government to a nominally
democratic form of government. Because the United States is no
longer immediately threatened by a major superpower, we've been
"building down" our military forces, specifically our nuclear
capability.
We've heard a lot about the "peace dividend," in which we
turn swords into plowshares. As good as that sounds, we must
also look at the other side of the coin. There's much concern
about turning military facilities into civilian facilities. Many
employees are losing their jobs as manufacturing plants close or
scale down production. That includes research and development as
well.
The people that are losing their jobs are highly skilled
laborers and scientists. Most of them will find work, if not in
their normal line of work, then in something related. But what
about those who don't? Are they destined for a life on welfare
and food stamps?
I don't think so. We have a great entrepreneurial spirit in
our country. A good many of those people will go to work for
themselves. That means more technological wonders will go
directly to the marketplace without first passing through the
military filter.
As I'm sure you are aware, an extremely high percentage of
technological marvels are developed by the government for use by
the Defense Department, such as weather satellites. A good chunk
are developed for scientific and research purposes. Velcro, for
instance. Velcro was developed for use by astronauts to walk
around in a weightless environment. Ask me about neckties
sometime...
These people are going to be walking around with information
spilling out of their heads that they can use for purposes other
than building weapons. Some of that information may be
classified and cannot be used for years, and in some cases
decades. But the knowledge is still there waiting to be tapped.
Maybe something learned while developing a missile guidance
system can be used to speed up harddrive access.
With the phone, cable and computer companies jockeying for
position on the National Data Highway, there will likely be many
of these displaced workers looking to make a place to help create
the future of communications in the U.S. They have the
knowledge, they have the connections and they are ready to take a
crack at it, for a price.
----
As I got to work on this column, Vice President Al Gore had
just unveiled plans for the National Data Highway. The on-ramp
is just a few years away.
Prodigy recently turned over some E-Mail messages to police
in Medina, Washington. A 14 year old girl allegedly wrote the
messages to her boyfriend in which she threatened the life of Cal
Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles. I'm sure she got a very
stern talking-to by lawmen and her parents.
Even though I think this is very serious I am still quite
concerned about how Prodigy officials were able to find this out.
I know they routinely scan public message bases, but this is the
first time I've heard of them going through private E-Mail. What
else have they found out over the years?
The Justice Department wants you to know that Pedophiles,
people that engage in sexual activities with minors and collect
child pornography, are using BBSs and E-Mail to further their
sick habits. They say parents should watch their children's
E-Mail to make sure they aren't being contacted by pedophiles.
So far, there have been a few state cases, but no federal cases.
When I first read about that warning I was very upset. Once
again BBSs are being singled out as sources of evil in our
country. I'll be the first to admit there are some people that
are using new technology to gain access to children. But the
general public is getting the impression that Sysops and Users
are a rather shady group of people.
At One BBSCon, there was discussion on forming a lobby group
to look after the interests of BBSs. I think this is an
exceptional idea and when it gets rolling we need to support it's
efforts. Maybe we can begin to stem the tide of bad Public
Relations.
(c) 1993 Robert Parson