Glass Ceilings and Firewalls

I'll say it right off the bat: I'm biased. I've never liked Symantec's computer security products personally and have found top-selling Norton AntiVirus to offer a user experience much like pouring molasses into my laptop. Many software reviewers seem to agree with me and rate the program well below their more consumer-friendly top-ten picks.

So it with some trepidation that I hear from the Wall Street Journal that outgoing Symantec head John W. Thompson is on the short list for Secretary of Commerce, since I fear that he will be less responsive to consumer concerns about hidden verbiage in end-license user agreements and unlikely to be proactive about the bundling of software products, which was at least treated as a serious anti-trust issue during the Clinton era.

Although I look forward to a diverse cabinet in this administration, I would hope that an African-American could be found for the post who has a better digital rights record than Thompson.