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Computers at Risk Safe Computing in the Information Age (1991) / Chapter Skim
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D Models for GSSP
Pages 278-282

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From page 278...
... These code-writing organizations are associations of enforcement officers and therefore can be thought of as representing the government sector exclusively. There is, however, significant private sector input into the process from the various materials suppliers and their trade associations.
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From page 279...
... Building codes have been widely criticized as inhibiting innovation and raising construction costs by mandating outdated materials and labor practices. In part, this is a natural byproduct of the specification approach, which militates against new technologies that deviate from the required specifications.
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From page 280...
... The clear aim of this activity was to forestall government-mandated standards; this aim persists in FASB's own description of what causes a standard to be promulgated, where potential SEC or congressional action is explicitly mentioned as a criterion in deciding whether a new standard is needed. Overwhelmed by the changes in the financial markets in the 1960s, the Accounting Practices Board instituted a study in the early 1970s that led to the establishment of a full-time independent institute, the Financial Accounting Foundation (PAP)
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From page 281...
... The experience with building codes indicates clearly that having competing standards and decentralized evaluation and enforcement is counterproductive; these factors inhibit technological progress. It is also clear that any set of standards will always have some mix of performance and specification requirements.
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From page 282...
... The UL experience shows that an evaluation process can be initiated in the private sector and then accepted by government, and that it is not necessary to begin such an activity with a legal or administrative mandate. The FASB is also an example of a private effort that achieved government recognition.
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Key Terms

  • financial accounting
  • accounting standards
  • standards board
  • underwriters laboratories
  • accepted accounting

  • practices board
  • accounting foundation
  • specification standards
  • accounting practices
  • accounting profession

  • code enforcement
  • accounting principles
  • government intervention
  • financial data
  • necessarily deal

  • accounting information
  • public sector
  • satisfactorily handling
  • forcing function
  • gasb serve

  • permit meaningful
  • competing standards
  • criticisms levied
  • set accounting
  • financial information

  • materials suppliers
  • codes indicates
  • sector input
  • purely private
  • objective tests


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