I was astonished to get a press release yesterday advising me that the House of Lords plans to debate personal Internet security this coming Friday, as several members have expressed "concern" about the Wild West nature of the Internet.
Stone me - could this be the same House of Lords which didn't quite understand what a modem was (whilst discussing the Computer Misuse Act 1990) way back in 1988?
Apparently the debate follows on from the publication of two reports by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee - in August of last year and July of this - in which their Lordship-peeps concluded that public confidence in the Internet was in danger of being undermined by online fraud and other types of electronic crime.
Lord Broers, the peer who chaired the original Enquiries, said in his press statement that this latest debate will allow"members of the House to question the government on what has been achieved and will allow members of the Committee to re-assert their calls for better protection for Internet users."
Interestingly, Lord Broers said that some of the recommendations from the two previous Enquiries - such as the creation of a specialist electronic crime police division - are now being enacted by the government.
"But others, such as software developers' liability for damage caused by security flaws, and enabling people to report online fraud directly to the police rather than their bank, have either been ignored or are awaiting action," he said.
Amazing. It looks like the Government is starting to catch up on the electronic side of the world.
Impressed I am...
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