Senators propose internet "Kill switch"
 

Will the internet be hit soon? That would certainly help pass this bill in a hurry... Sounds to me that soon, the internet will never be the same...

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Senators propose granting president emergency Internet power

A new U.S. Senate bill would grant the president far-reaching emergency powers to seize control of or even shut down portions of the Internet.

The legislation announced Thursday says that companies such as broadband providers, search engines, or software firms that the government selects "shall immediately comply with any emergency measure or action developed" by the Department of Homeland Security. Anyone failing to comply would be fined.

That emergency authority would allow the federal government to "preserve those networks and assets and our country and protect our people," Joe Lieberman, the primary sponsor of the measure and the chairman of the Homeland Security committee, told reporters on Thursday. Lieberman is an independent senator from Connecticut who caucuses with the Democrats.

Because there are few limits on the president's emergency power, which can be renewed indefinitely, the densely worded 197-page bill (PDF) is likely to encounter stiff opposition.

TechAmerica, probably the largest U.S. technology lobby group, said it was concerned about "unintended consequences that would result from the legislation's regulatory approach" and "the potential for absolute power." And the Center for Democracy and Technology publicly worried that the Lieberman bill's emergency powers "include authority to shut down or limit Internet traffic on private systems."

The idea of an Internet "kill switch" that the president could flip is not new. A draft Senate proposal that CNET obtained in August allowed the White House to "declare a cybersecurity emergency," and another from Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) would have explicitly given the government the power to "order the disconnection" of certain networks or Web sites.

On Thursday, both senators lauded Lieberman's bill, which is formally titled the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, or PCNAA. Rockefeller said "I commend" the drafters of the PCNAA. Collins went further, signing up at a co-sponsor and saying at a press conference that "we cannot afford to wait for a cyber 9/11 before our government realizes the importance of protecting our cyber resources."

Under PCNAA, the federal government's power to force private companies to comply with emergency decrees would become unusually broad. Any company on a list created by Homeland Security that also "relies on" the Internet, the telephone system, or any other component of the U.S. "information infrastructure" would be subject to command by a new National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications (NCCC) that would be created inside Homeland Security.

The only obvious limitation on the NCCC's emergency power is one paragraph in the Lieberman bill that appears to have grown out of the Bush-era flap over warrantless wiretapping. That limitation says that the NCCC cannot order broadband providers or other companies to "conduct surveillance" of Americans unless it's otherwise legally authorized.

Lieberman said Thursday that enactment of his bill needed to be a top congressional priority. "For all of its 'user-friendly' allure, the Internet can also be a dangerous place with electronic pipelines that run directly into everything from our personal bank accounts to key infrastructure to government and industrial secrets," he said. "Our economic security, national security and public safety are now all at risk from new kinds of enemies--cyber-warriors, cyber-spies, cyber-terrorists and cyber-criminals."

A new cybersecurity bureaucracy

Lieberman's proposal would form a powerful and extensive new Homeland Security bureaucracy around the NCCC, including "no less" than two deputy directors, and liaison officers to the Defense Department, Justice Department, Commerce Department, and the Director of National Intelligence. (How much the NCCC director's duties would overlap with those of the existing assistant secretary for infrastructure protection is not clear.)

The NCCC also would be granted the power to monitor the "security status" of private sector Web sites, broadband providers, and other Internet components. Lieberman's legislation requires the NCCC to provide "situational awareness of the security status" of the portions of the Internet that are inside the United States -- and also those portions in other countries that, if disrupted, could cause significant harm.

Selected private companies would be required to participate in "information sharing" with the Feds. They must "certify in writing to the director" of the NCCC whether they have "developed and implemented" federally approved security measures, which could be anything from encryption to physical security mechanisms, or programming techniques that have been "approved by the director." The NCCC director can "issue an order" in cases of noncompliance.

The prospect of a vast new cybersecurity bureaucracy with power to command the private sector worries some privacy advocates. "This is a plan for an auto-immune reaction," says Jim Harper, director of information studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. "When something goes wrong, the government will attack our infrastructure and make society weaker."

To sweeten the deal for industry groups, Lieberman has included a tantalizing offer absent from earlier drafts: immunity from civil lawsuits. If a software company's programming error costs customers billions, or a broadband provider intentionally cuts off its customers in response to a federal command, neither would be liable.

If there's an "incident related to a cyber vulnerability" after the president has declared an emergency and the affected company has followed federal standards, plaintiffs' lawyers cannot collect damages for economic harm. And if the harm is caused by an emergency order from the Feds, not only does the possibility of damages virtually disappear, but the U.S. Treasury will even pick up the private company's tab.

Another sweetener: A new White House office would be charged with forcing federal agencies to take cybersecurity more seriously, with the power to jeopardize their budgets if they fail to comply. The likely effect would be to increase government agencies' demand for security products.

Tom Gann, McAfee's vice president for government relations, stopped short of criticizing the Lieberman bill, calling it a "very important piece of legislation."

McAfee is paying attention to "a number of provisions of the bill that could use work," Gann said, and "we've certainly put some focus on the emergency provisions."


http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20007418-38.html

1st amendment?

This is a very bad idea in a long list of bad ideas.

This is like shutting off the power grid. You just don't do it. Business would grind to a halt.

Just another silly idea that will never be implemented.

The government does not like what it can not control.

Booooourns!

I hope they do and they use it. Shut the fucking thing down. Bring it.

Then after that, maybe they will raise income tax to 90%. Bring that too.

Bring whatever they want. Until the people of the world unite say ENOUGH and do something about it, they deserve nothing and will get exactly that.

bingo ..

do these fuckers realize when they 'turn off' the internet they are turning off millions of jobs??

:2 cents::2 cents:

This shit makes me want to puke. It's sad how fast Amerika is turning into a police state.

its inevitable.


Sabby:)

Change.....

It's make me puke how many people are retarded enough to believe all this crap. Someone posted this MONTHS ago and MONTHS before that. This supposed bill has been on the verge of passing for over a decade now. Oh by the way a Nigerian prince wants to send you $30 million. Better take him up on it. Seems legit.

And yet another demotard idea... Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.), Joe Lieberman, Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) snowe should change parties as she always votes with the demotards.. I guess it's more of that "hope and change"... November is coming very soon.. Judgment day..!

I would imagine, if we were under a cyber attack that was damaging, or about to damage our infrastructure (power grids, nuclear plants, etc.), that having a kill switch shutdown is not so bizarre.

I don't think the government would just randomly kill the internet, just for no fucking reason.

Not sure why this idea is being met with so much resistance...

I really hope our nuclear facilities are not susceptible to hackers on the Internet. If they are, I'm getting the fuck out of here right now.

another crazy idea

Iran will have nuclear power in aprox 5 years.

I say 2.

Sabby:)

I propose a senator kill switch.

Where are you going?


Sabby:)

I didnt think the government would randomly attack and invade two nations. I did not think that our government would continually bomb sovereign nations, we are not at war with, for years on end. I did not think our government would start bombing innocent women and children attending funerals. I did not think our government would search peoples homes, cars, land, property, hack peoples emails, tap peoples phones, without warrants. If after 8 years of Bush and a year and change with Obama people do not understand the dangers of a big government our nation is fucked. :2 cents:

As long as there is a proper balance between necessary security measures, and knee-jerk reactionism I am okay with it. The devil is always in the details.

I agree that ANYTHING proposed by Lieberman is inherently suspect though...

Well, I'm sure they will cook up a FALSE FLAG cyber attack soon enough to get the legislation through.

Also, one has to ask.. WHY ON EARTH would critical infrastructure like, power grids, nuclear plants, ..etc be connected to the Internet anyway?

Best idea yet! :thumbsup

No problem. We can have a kill switch as long as we quit bitching about all
the current countries that have it already like China, North Korea, Iran....

Yeah, go for it.
Let's become the full hypocritical assholes that we are in reality.

Now THAT'S a very good question!

Unfortunately TONS of shit is connected to the internet - from power, to defense, to everything!

It is not smart, and it will be a huge problem at some point, but it is what it is, unless and until it is changed.

THAT is something the government should be working on actually...

Agreed. LIEberman is a douche

I won't pass. Period.

jesus this is too much, free the world!

What he said. Merely an attempt to take control over something that is well out of their hands.

the idiocracy of the legislators hard at work

go back to sleep man.. It's just like the naked body scanners in airport I suppose ?

QFT. All the really whacky shit that has 0 chance of passing seems to be coming through him.

So true. I hate that guy.

A related article...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...ctionContent.1

Is Josh aware of this killswitch you speak of?

That gets my vote but lets not limiit ourselves to just Senators..:1orglaugh And how about some forehead cams with 24/7 live feeds so we know what the hell they are scheming.

What's not mentioned here is this is already being done even though there is no "statute". Homeland Security has been implementing it for quite some time. So saying it won't happen is kinda pointless.

So I guess we're back to

A bunch of psychopathic control freaks in charge

Not going to happen anytime soon,lol

Interesting read.

Newspaper articles will let us know if portions of the Internet do shut down.

Just in case you missed Rockefeller talking about his bill last year..



You see old J.R. can't stand the fact that his criminal family roots are being exposed around the World. And his family owned newsapers, publishers, TV networks, and radio stations can't control the flow of information.

With govt never say never!

as said above govt doesnt like things that they dont control.

the internet is the last tool that is open that keeps you from being completely brainwashed. if you think the govt likes this you are tripping.

they will start with a small bill to stop "internet terrorism" and slowly move towards filtering packets on every ISP. saying that they are "protecting the network". it is coming :)

when the internet is fully regulated you will know that shit has hit the fan.

they dont take all your liberties away in one day. they slowly peel them away bit by bit so you do not notice. until one day you only have the shoes left on your feet. until they make it illegal to wear those also.

never say never it has happened throughout history.

the best thing you can do IS talk about it and help keep people informed.

big govt is bad news. the more laws they make the more it keeps the politicians in business. they care about being in business not about you.

This is how it starts. So called emergency use only. Then the government will try to gain more control over the internet, then try to sensor it, then tax it and ultimately tax anybody and everybody that uses it. There is nothing positive that will come of this in the long run.


Look at what happened with taxes. It started as something simple, where everyone had one simple tax that they paid. Easy and simple, everyone paid all was good. Then federal income tax, the state income tax, sales tax, property tax, utility tax, luxury tax, import tax, business tax, anything that makes money or any bill that you pay out gets taxed.


I dont think that taxing the shit out of everyone in this country was the plan when this country was formed. "No taxation with out representation" You know how many taxes get passes without anybodies knowledge ? Or all the taxes that get stuffed into bills with titles like "save our planet" or "save the trees"? Every fucking bill that gets passed taxes the shit out of the people and lines the pockets of people that have no right to our tax dollars. If people really knew in detail, where their tax dollars went, this country would be up in arms.


Anytime the government wants more control of anything, i pause with concern. Just look at our governments history with promises.:2 cents:


Thats all... sorry about standing on the soap box.:thumbsup

thank god some people still stop and think.

what does govt do properly EVER!?

NOTHING!

anything they touch turns into a complete shit storm. i have no idea why people are ok with giving people who have no business being in power more power. IN ANY WAY.

New decade, new boogey-man on the horizon :1orglaugh

One day, somebody that actually understands the internet and how it works will propose a bill.

Yes, and the Chinese government is just protecting their population from outside news. Really, it is for their own good.

no no nooo!!!

Will be a few years yet though.

Was talking about something similar to one of my friends last week. When we were at school the total amount of computery stuff we did was play snake on the few computers that lived in the computer room. The internet didn't exist to the public. Computers in homes were pretty much only used for playing games on. Any children at school now have been brought up around computers and the internet and have much more of an understanding how everything works. Although it won't be instant, it won't take too long before there are people in government that do actually understand the internet.

Sounds fucked up.

http://themillerplace.net/politics/i...logo-clear.gif

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Fuck'em all!

FREE CYBERSPACE!!!