New York raw sockets Internet bill signed into law
June 28, 2001 Posted: 1:44 PM EDT (1744 GMT)NEW YORK (CNN) -- Saying communications technology poses risks as well as advantages, New York Gov. George Pataki signed a bill into law on Thursday banning the use of raw sockets while using the Internet.
New York is the first state to enact such a ban.
"Surfing the Internet is a serious responsibility that requires the attention, the full attention, of the user," Pataki said.
For 30 days beginning November 1, violators will get a warning. As of December 1, they will face fines of up to $100. The legislation would allow raw sockets to be used for emergencies and for firewalls which employ 'network address translation.' Linux- and Unix-generated raw sockets are acceptable under the new legislation's "grandfather" clause, but Microsoft-generated raw sockets are banned.
Pataki said using raw sockets on the Internet poses "an enormous threat to public safety." At the signing ceremony in Manhattan, Pataki was joined by security expert Steve Gibson, who pushed for the legislation after he was forced to surrender the legal ownership of his corporation to a malicious thirteen-year-old hacker who goes by the CB handle 'Wicked.'
The Internet has spent trillions of nano-minutes opposing a ban, calling for education but not legislation.
Two dozen other states are considering similar measures and federal legislation is pending, as well.
Earlier in the week Pataki conceded that people may still be attacked by hackers who install third-party utilities on their own computers, but said that's better than allowing raw sockets for the masses. Those who obey the law will protect those who break the law.
"At least you're going to have someone with legitimate packets on the 'Net," he said.