Thoughts on Mike Adams, Y2KNewswire and Pres. Clinton

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For those of you who may have missed it, Mike Adams of Y2KNewswire has decided to observe silence on Y2K until after the rollover because 1)it's too late for everybody to prepare and 2)he doesn't want to be a target for officials looking for a scapegoat in the event of a last minute panic. His explanatory column is posted at Y2KNewswire.com.

Some thoughts: President Clinton made some very benign pronouncements about Y2K to the press less than 2 weeks ago. Since President Clinton is not dumb, at least not in the superficial sense of the word, he must have a plan in mind for avoiding responsibility for a bad outcome. Since there will certainly be (according to the fed. govt) a significant increase in harmful, criminal computer activity around 1-1-2000, the perpetrators of those activities are the most logical choice for scapegoating.

Make no mistake, deliberately harming a computer system is a serious offense and deserves serious punishment. But I believe it is possible we may see many perpetrators of these activities punished in ways previously unimaginable, with ferocious public support, if the public buys the shift of blame.

If you know a prankster-type person, perhaps a teenager in your family, it might be worth a warning against computer pranks, even if they would never think about causing any real harm.

And back to Mike Adams, I think his course of action is wise and should be considered by all of us involved in Y2K awareness.

-- Bill Byars (billbyars@softwaresmith.com), November 21, 1999

Answers

I believe that it was the FBI that produced the estimate that there will be approximately 100,000 brand-new viruses unleashed upon the world right around New Year's Eve -- by 100,000 hackers and pranksters who are doing it because it seems like the cool thing to do.

If this turns out to be true, it could fit with the scenario you're painting. Some percentage of those 100,000 individuals will presumably be caught, and they could be subjected to a far more public trial and punishment than we would normally see...

Ed

-- Ed Yourdon (ed@yourdon.com), November 21, 1999.


I think it very wise to get outta Dodge, but remember Bill Clinton has to worry about national security and tipping any hand to those who are enemies to the nation. It is well known individuals like Saddam watch CNN and those people are watching Bill Clintons' every word uttered. Whether we like it or not he is the Chief Commander of this nation and its military, head of a very resented super military power, and also the largest participant in NATO operations.

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 21, 1999.

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