Defending American Cyberspace Isn't Just About Cyberwar

In this thought provoking piece in The New York Times, Jack Goldsmith makes an interesting and succinct case for defending American cyberspace. What I like in his guest Op-Ed is that he cuts through so much of the noise surrounding this issue and the criticism of Obama's recently unveiled cyberdefense plans.

Goldsmith argues that much of the cyberinfrastructure, like its physical counterpart, is in private hands. Hands that may run that infrastructure well as a business but still need to rely in the government to defend it from attacks.

Goldsmith goes through all the usual arguments in a paragraph each about civil liberties, surveillance and other fears about government control of the defense of cyberspace. He says we may be squeamish about the extent of government activity required but the balance can still be struck in defending both cyberspace and our civil freedoms.

What I also found interesting was that Goldsmith is not a techie, nor a veteran in the cybertrenches. He's an attorney and his arguments are well thought it. He's also written a book, Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World, recently released on Amazon.