Almost all politicians in power today (1) didn't grow up with a pervasive Internet, and (2) truly don't understand information technology. For example, the med

Almost all politicians in power today (1) didn't grow up with a pervasive Internet, and (2) truly don't understand information technology. For example, the median age of US Senators is currently 62 years [1], and not a single one of them is an engineer (let alone a software developer) [2]. Consider how the term "dangerous hacking tool" sounds to a 62 year-old person who doesn't have even a basic understanding of how software works. No wonder they want to outlaw these "weapons"! Alas, it's probably too late and too difficult to teach these old dogs new tricks. Realistically, we should expect more idiotic political decisions to be made... until a new generation of politicians (with a better understanding of software and the Internet) gradually takes over. I wish I could be more optimistic about this. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_Senators_by_age http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_S... [2] http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/R41647.pdf http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/R41647.pdf