Brave New World 3.0: Windows 8 Will Have a Kill Switch

    The headlines about Microsoft's much anticipated Window 8 have been earth shattering the last few days. Turns out Windows 8-may-have a "kill switch." Interestingly there is a heavy metal group with that name.

    The fast and furious headlines declare "The Windows 8 Kill Switch: A Hacker's Dream Come True" , "Windows 8 Will Have a Kill Switch" by Vigilant Citizen and "The Kill Switch: They Can Remotely Modify Your Window" at The Hacker News.

     http://www.google.com/search?q=windows+8+killswitch&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7ACAW_enUS357US357

     http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2400985,00.asp

     http://vigilantcitizen.com/latestnews/windows-8-will-have-a-kill-switch/

     I love the sense you get of Huxley's Brave New World or Orwell's 1984. Listen to Vigilant Citizen:

     "With the rollout of the Windows 8 operating system expected later this year, millions of desktop and laptop PCs will get kill switches for the first time. Microsoft (MSFT) hasn’t spoken publicly about its reasons for including this capability in Windows 8 beyond a cryptic warning that it might be compelled to use it for legal or security reasons. The feature was publicized in a widely cited Computerworld article in December when Microsoft posted the terms of use for its new application store, a feature in Windows 8 that will allow users to download software from a Microsoft-controlled portal. Windows smartphones, like those of its competitors, have included kill switches for several years, though software deletion “is a last resort, and it’s uncommon,” says Todd Biggs, director of product management for Windows Phone Marketplace."

   "Microsoft declined to answer questions about the kill switch in Windows 8 other than to say it will only be able to remove or change applications downloaded through the new app store. Any software loaded from a flash drive, DVD, or directly from the Web will remain outside Microsoft’s control. Still, the kill switch is a tool that could help Microsoft prevent mass malware infections. “For most users, the ability to remotely remove apps is a good thing,” says Charlie Miller, a researcher with the security company Accuvant."

    "The history of kill switches on smartphones and e-readers suggests they’re double-edged swords for the companies that wield them. In 2009, Amazon reached into users’ Kindles to delete e-book copies of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm that had been sold by a publisher without the necessary rights. The ensuing backlash caused Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos to call the move “stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles.”

     "The reluctance of tech companies to set explicit policies for when they will and will not use kill switches contributes to the fear they’ll be abused. Civil rights and free speech advocates worry that tech companies could be pressured by governments to delete software or data for political reasons. “You have someone who has absolute control over my hard drive in ways I may have never anticipated or consented to,” says Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University’s law school in California. “If they use that power wisely, they actually make my life better. We don’t know if they use the power wisely. In fact, we may never know when they use their power at all.”

    We have the usual worries about "absolute control" of your hardrive without your consent. This kill switch then is not absolutely new but before they have been used on smart phones, this will be the first time they will be used largely on pcs. But to read the headlines it reminds us of the Cold War era with the headlines that  the Soviets just got the bomb. My take in this sort of stuff is to not want to put a lid on innovation. I understand in theory this can worry some about "absolute control without consent" but I usually feel like whatever the problems the main effect is to the good. This kill switch could be very helpful in dealing with virus issues-something I know all too much about.

    I rather incautisously look forward to the next development of the Brave New World. Let the techno-revolution continue. We got some big things coming out of the big three-Microsoft, Google, and Apple. Just as big as the upcoming Windows 8 is Google's coming Android terminal.