Microsoft proposes Public Health Model to fight malware infections

They're walking a mighty fine line, not unlike a tobacco products company might walk. It's pretty obvious by now that tobacco products cause a lot of health problems. But a tobacco products company can't officially sneer at public health efforts to decrease tobacco usage for fear of being tried (and losing!) in the court of public opinion.

Scott Charney (of anti-disclosure, "information anarchy" fame, I believe) here calls for the feds to come and help clean up the mess. But wait! Healthier, less infested alternatives exist! Government funded research may twig to the fact that Windows has a pretty baroque design, aspects of which (marking a file executable by special name format) obviously contribute to the malware problem.

How does Microsoft go about getting all the benefits of a public health campaign without suffering from any side effects? Looks like another symptom of decline to me.