Dear Mayor Watson, as your cyber liaison my job is to keep you up to speed with technology related issues, and after Representative King’s iPhone debacle in the House Judiciary Committee Testimony in December, it would be detrimental in your ratings to have a similar misstep in communication in your push for Governor of Vermont.
While I would like to break down the basic fundamental mechanics of the internet, where data is kept, how it travels, and how we access it, there is not enough time and we must focus on pertinent issues at hand. As we surround ourselves more and more with the blankets of technology, we are learning that normal, every day problems become technological problems. As we use computers to interact with aspects of our lives, the probability of risk increases exponentially. Unfortunately, in this briefing we cannot cover every issue that orbits the technological behemoth that cyberspace has become, but we can cover current issues that people are liable to bring up. Issues like identity theft and cybercrime, problems like voter manipulation and election fraud, but first, I think we should talk about bitcoin.
As bitcoin becomes a more salable currency, state and local governments should consider it’s use and regulation, especially here in Vermont. Cities as close as Plattsburgh, NY are suffering municipal power problems from bitcoin miners making money hand over fist. In Plattsburgh, their solution was to ban the mining of bitcoin.[1] If those earnings were taxed on a digital level at the valuation of the currency, instead imposing a 1,000 dollar fine one anyone caught breaking the year and a half long moratorium on cryptomining, the municipal power problems would relieve themselves, while raking in monstrous profits for the municipality. Not to mention the amazing publicity a progressive stance on cryptocurrency would be, as opposed to being the grandfathers that said “you can’t have any of those bitcoins in my house!” And we shouldn’t just allow miners to pay in cryptocurrency. On the level of the individual, permitting a citizen to pay their tax burden via cryptocurrency could be an interesting investment, but the rates are so volatile, it could potentially bankrupt a community unless the currency was cashed out and reinvested at responsible intervals. Due to this volatility, it wouldn’t make sense to do this at a State level. However, the State Government should be prepared to support and advise any counties that want to consider that method, and the State Government should also be prepared to inform the counties and communities of the risks that method entails. As mass communications and technology have advanced, we find ourselves with nearly unlimited informational resources. Not only would our census and tax systems be more than capable of handling alternate forms of income like cryptocurrency, but we should also explore the savings we could earn by utilizing community services. By permitting citizens to alleviate their tax burden via volunteer services is an issue that could be resolved digitally, while allowing for a decrease in government spending on payroll for tasks such as: public cleaning, light construction, park repairs, and more. By allowing people to work off their State Income tax, we serve the dual purpose of decreasing costly state employee spending, and enabling the citizens to take pride in their community and green up Vermont. While on paper, a ground level state workforce seems like a good idea, it would never work with paper. Only through the use of the internet, and most likely specialized phone applications, could a volunteer labor force ever work. And the biggest hurdle would be verifiable two factor authentication. Social Security numbers would be insufficient, because they are already compromised and poorly protected. However, Enhanced IDs, that are registered and chipped in Washington DC are several orders of magnitude more secure. Using a password and an RFID Scanner, using the single issue State License as the second factor for authentication, may be a viable solution to identity theft and citizen obfuscation. If implemented, there are a myriad of utilities that could be generated by such a system. On the National level, it could allow you to view your tax information, and social security confirmation, permitting the automation of basic office work, further reducing government payroll, while alleviating lines at Passport offices, Social Security offices, and the clerk of courts. On a state level, it could act as an interim DMV. Many states have utilized government cyberspace for these purposes, though few have utilized them for voting. This should be considered. On a local level, public forums, local issues, and census reports could bring true democracy to the community, and allow for informed policy driven elections. Even if this idea is voted down, or found to be insecure, the ineffectual mock model should still be drafted and created, even if traditional voting methods are still employed to be used alongside the conventional means. This digital city hall would operate as a local facebook, facilitating a framework for direct democracy, allowing anyone to propose, embellish, and vote upon ideas and courses of action for the local community. Through the use of instant and unified communication, more ideas can be represented, and more people can represent themselves, instantly mobilizing from the ground level to respond to any potential impediment to the interests of the community, as opposed to the interests of the few people in charge of the community. As we have talked about digital currency, digital politics, and digital taxes, perhaps we should talk about digital crime. Many cyber attacks, and cases of digital fraud appear to be “non-state” actors, that act in the interest of a foreign government, but with no discernible ties to any officials, allowing these officials to deny culpability. So, if federal legal action is prohibited, the duty falls upon the state to subpoena the foreign law enforcement for information pertaining to the incident. If federal legal action is not prohibited, it is the responsible departments duty to follow the prescribed actions. Even if there is an investigation on a National level, we should still be permitted to pursue and prosecute on a state level. These exercises will keep our state cyber squad strong, and perhaps even support national crime fighting organizations when they themselves are unwilling or unable. One of the more recent examples of cybercrime is Voter Manipulation. Social media botnets control “likes” and infest comment sections all across the internet, influencing the prevailing trends of the population. Comment sections on news sites and social media sites are companies owned and edited by individuals with allegiances and their own motives who use sensationalism to influence their own agendas. We need to hammer down trusted and authenticated sources for information and punish people that purposefully manipulate the information that is represented in popular media. Just as the FCC regulates the amount of air time a politician is permitted over the radio, we should be vigilant and ensure that no media conglomerates are allowed to unfairly tip the scales of public opinion. Voter manipulation is one of many methods a “non-state” actor can commit election interference. Naturally bribes and obfuscated campaign donations are the old fashioned method, but so is blackmail. In an unencrypted world, everyone’s correspondence is considered common knowledge. And as all correspondence is done digitally, it’s possible for your own unencrypted browsing, shopping, or sexting could come back to haunt you, or more specifically any compromised politician. It’s impossible to know how many votes have been turned due to digital blackmail, but we cannot allow that to happen to, Miss Watson. Speaking of encryption and authentication, we cannot continue voting with unauthenticated ballots . In Vermont, it is very easy to assume someone’s identity and vote illegally. Just last month I walked into the local courthouse, and without an ID or any real verification was permitted to submit a ballot. This first needs to be addressed on a local level. On a State level, a duly authenticated web based polling station, or at least mock polling station, should be considered and hopefully implemented. A national standardized system needs to be considered eventually, and I believe we can start by being an example here in Vermont. Before we pave the way for a national voting registry, some questions must be answered about internet accessibility and infrastructure here in Vermont. Over 100 million dollars[2] was redirected by major Internet Service Providers towards fighting a free and open internet, to the point that a former Verizon attorney was placed at the head of the FCC to change the law to their favor and declassify the internet from it’s utility status. Reverting the Obama-era regulations now allows Internet Service Providers to treat the internet as a luxury service, and are no longer subject to stringent quality of service and impartiality standards. Furthermore, the government already paid “four hundred billion dollars by the local phone incumbents, Verizon, AT&T and CenturyLink, for a fiber optic future that never showed up. And though it varies by state, counting the taxes, fees and surcharges that you have paid every month (many of these fees are actually revenues to the company or taxes on the company that you paid), it comes to about $4000-$5000.00 per household from 1992-2014, and that’s the low number.” [3] This is why we need representatives at all levels to ensure the infrastucture job these major Internet Service Providers were paid for is finished, or the money is returned to be invested in more returnable enterprises, in order to increase connectivity in Vermont. According to website BroadbandNow[4], we are the 36th most connected state. However, with a population of only 623,960, this should be a very simple problem to correct. By reducing the “cyber divide” across the state, we stand to bring the community closer together, not only for safety and well being, but for commerce and democracy. Craigslist, facebook marketplace, airbnb, and uber are all examples of the internet stimulating the local economy. With over 1/6th of our population not connected to the internet, we are losing out on a lot of potential income. In the interest of economic stimulation, we should make the internet universally accessible, regardless of the cost. Some may ask, what about the people that won’t purchase internet access? “For the 24 percent who do not purchase the Internet at home, only 6 percent (1 percent of the entire sample) say that they plan to purchase it within the coming year; the majority of those who do not purchase the internet at home (64 percent of non-purchasers, 16 percent of the overall sample) say that they will never purchase Internet services. Older respondents were more likely to say that they will never purchase broadband access.”[5] To this I suggest we enforce a new law. Anyone in Vermont selling wireless internet, which we in Vermont should considered a utility, should provide a reasonable option for free. Just as any establishment that serves alcohol must provide patrons for water, any organization that seeks to profit from wireless subscriptions, must also provide a reasonable stream at no charge. .5 mbps is nothing to write home about, but it could indeed be used to write home. Or the instance of emergency, it allows you contact emergency services or acquire required information as needed. By providing a throttled connection speed, it ensures anyone with the ability to connect to the internet is allowed to, regardless of economic status, and provides incentive for those with the means to subscribe to a faster connection.
Bibliography
Bitcoin Mining Was Just Banned in a Small Town
http://fortune.com/2018/03/16/plattsburgh-new-york-bitcoin-mining-ban/
All 535 Members Of Congress, and How Much Money They Got from Isps
T.C. Sottek - https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/11/16746230/net-neutrality-fcc-isp-congress-campaign-contribution
The Book Of Broken Promises: $400 Billion Broadband Scandal And Free The Net
Bruce Kushnick - https://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-kushnick/the-book-of-broken-promis_b_5839394.html
Internet Access in Vermont: Stats & Figures
https://broadbandnow.com/Vermont
2014 Vermont Residential Telecommunications Survey Report
Vermont Public Service Department - 2014