FIA launches anti-racism Everyrace campaign
The FIA, Formula One’s governing body, today announced the launch of their anti-racism campaign, Everyrace (www.everyrace.net). This campaign is a response to controversy generated earlier in the season when a few F1 fans, in an extraordinary show of stupidity, took a very un-PC approach to taunting rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton. The press releases from FIA contains some great quotes from the drivers and execs of F1. Here are a few of my favorites, see more quotes in the full press release.
“Since I started in motor racing I’ve worked with people from all over the world. We are all here to go racing and prejudice will never play any part in that.”
Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari“I believe that motor sport, like all other sports, is about freedom of expression in the pursuit of competition and excellence. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Lewis Hamilton, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes“The sport is all about a driver’s ability and this will never have anything to do with their race or the colour of their skin.”
Bernie Ecclestone, CEO Formula One Management“One thing that most attracted me to motor sport was that nobody cared about your background, race, gender or religion; all that mattered was how quick you were.”
Max Mosley, FIA President
I applaud how the FIA is handling the issue, especially how they took a controversy and turned it into a chance to do some good. They made a clear statement on the views of their organization and have pleged to raise awareness for and combat racism. Truly a great business decision. All that remains it to see how they back it up, right now the campaign is just a website to “pledge your support” by giving your name and email.
They have generated the good will and good press, now it remains to be seen what they do with it.
Should Information Security be a Standard Feature?
Here is an interesting blog post by Bruce Schneier about the future of the Data Security industry. It seems every few weeks we hear another story about how data has been compromised. In light of this though, Bruce argues that data security is inherently confusing and consumers would be better served if security features were standard, not extra pieces to be added on.
His argument, as an automotive analogy, is compelling.
Imagine if the inventor of antilock brakes — or any automobile safety or security feature — had to sell them directly to the consumer. It would be an uphill battle convincing the average driver that he needed to buy them; maybe that technology would have succeeded and maybe it wouldn’t. But that’s not what happens. Antilock brakes, airbags, and that annoying sensor that beeps when you’re backing up too close to another object are sold to automobile companies, and those companies bundle them together into cars that are sold to consumers. This doesn’t mean that automobile safety isn’t important, and often these new features are touted by the car manufacturers.
If he’s right, then there are a lot of shakeups coming. Combined with the rough economic road ahead, particularly for tech companies, and his outlook may start happening sooner rather than later.
