Top Microsoft Exec Suggests Internet Usage Tax, Money Would Fight Cyber Crime

While many companies are pushing for free internet for everyone, a top Microsoft executive this week went in the other direction, suggesting that an internet usage tax should be charged in order to help fight cyber crime.

According to HuffPost:

Speaking at a security conference in San Francisco, Microsoft Vice President for Trustworthy Computing Scott Charney pitched the Web usage fee as one way to subsidize efforts to combat emerging cyber threats — a costly venture, he said, but one that had vast community benefits.

According to Charney:

“You could say it’s a public safety issue and do it with general taxation.”

During the RSA security conference Charney didn’t outline how such a tax would be levied, instead simply suggesting the policy.

It’s an ironic suggestion from the software company which is known for security vulnerabilities in their own software and has been viewed by many experts in the computer world as an attempt by Microsoft to pass the cost of security onto everyone, including Mac and Linux users.