USA is no longer the Internet hub

New Zealand
August 31, 2008 2:29am CST
USA intelligence agencies are reported to have access to corporate and other data stored on USA based servers. Concerns around this have caused many foreign companies to not use US companies for their internet needs. US share of the internet traffic has dropped from 75% of total to 25% This has both financial and strategic implications for the USA. Do you think the US should revise its Patriot Act to exclude the internet assets of foreigners? Or do you think security should drive huge losses to American industry. Here is an article from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/business/30pipes.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin It would be nice to hear from fellow mylotians from a technical, monetary, political, security or even international trade in services perspective.
1 person likes this
1 response
• United States
31 Aug 08
"Do you think the US should revise its Patriot Act to exclude the internet assets of foreigners?" Thank you for posting such a vital topic. The US PATRIOT ACT absolutely should be revised. However, merely excluding the internet assets of foreigners does not go any where near far enough. Foreigners are far too intelligent to believe our intelligence agencies would ignore their data as long as the PATROIT ACT exists. There are also other serious problems with the PATRIOT ACT. By redefining the definition of who is a terrorist or what constitutes terrorism the PATROIT ACT could eventually be used to destroy civil liberties in the USA. Anyone who does not think so should look up who the PATROIT ACT calls a terrorist. How easily can this definition be modified? How easy is the current definition subject to mis-interpretation by law enforcement or the courts to include anyone suspected of almost any crime? All efforts such as yours to call attention to the problems with the PATROIT ACT are a public service.
2 people like this
• New Zealand
3 Sep 08
Thanks Red, as usual you get to the root of the matter. I am only looking at one of the consequences - i.e. International data traffic is bypassing US switches and networks. This used to add value to the US economy. Now this is another bunch of $$$ lost. Cheers.