Submission + - Microsoft Exec Wants "Internet Driver's Licenses" (interesting-people.org) 1
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes: "Craig Mundi, Microsoft's Chief Research and Strategy Officer, called for the creation of an 'Internet Driver's License' at the World Economic Forum in Davos, saying, 'If you want to drive a car you have to have a license to say that you are capable of driving a car, the car has to pass a test to say it is fit to drive and you have to have insurance.' Of course, there are quite a few problems with this. For starters, internet use cannot yet cause death or dismemberment like car accidents can, this would get rid of most of the good of internet anonymity while retaining all of the bad parts, especially in terms of expanding the market for stolen identities. Given that average teens can get fake driver's licenses, it's hard to believe that an IDL would be any less available or less desireable. Given that black markets are subject to the network effect, it's hard to see how making that market larger helps anyone. Finally, even though telephone networks have long been used by scammers and spammers/telemarketers, we've never needed a 'Telephone Driver's License.' Unfortunately, this is a very old idea, so we probably haven't seen the last of it."
