Restarting the Internet

A major internet breakdown, government to the rescue?
Over at Homeland Stupidity, Michael Hampton isn't buying it:

It said that various government agencies have responsibilities which are conflicting and unclear and these responsibilities should be clarified and reassigned where appropriate. The report said that the government had no clear policy on Internet disaster recovery and that it should develop such a policy.

The report calls for companies to implement new mutual aid agreements and standard communication protocols in the event of a disaster, and for the Department of Homeland Security to take a more prominent role in coordinating Internet disaster response between the companies responsible. Because, of course, they can’t do it themselves, so they’d rather have taxpayer dollars pay for components of disaster response they should be handling themselves.

I don’t think they realize what they’re asking for. The government certainly has a role in Internet disaster response, as it has computers on the Internet. But giving it such a central role might not be such a good idea, when it can’t even keep its own little corner of the Internet secure. And especially not when its inability to respond to a truly catastrophic event and to hinder disaster response at every turn has been so thoroughly demonstrated. (via Digg)

Bingo. More government is rarely, if ever the answer.