The federal government would have “absolute power” to shut down the Internet under the terms of a new US Senate bill being pushed by Joe Lieberman, legislation which would hand President Obama a figurative “kill switch” to seize control of the world wide web in response to a Homeland Security directive.
Lieberman has been pushing for government regulation of the Internet for years under the guise of cybersecurity, but this new bill goes even further in handing emergency powers over to the feds which could be used to silence free speech under the pretext of a national emergency.
[…]
The 197-page bill (PDF) is entitled Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, or PCNAA.Technology lobbying group TechAmerica warned that the legislation created “the potential for absolute power,” while the Center for Democracy and Technology worried that the bill’s emergency powers “include authority to shut down or limit internet traffic on private systems.”
The bill has the vehement support of Senator Jay Rockefeller, who last year asked during a congressional hearing, “Would it had been better if we’d have never invented the Internet?” while fearmongering about cyber-terrorists preparing attacks.
The largest Internet-based corporations are seemingly happy with the bill, primarily because it contains language that will give them immunity from civil lawsuits and also reimburse them for any costs incurred if the Internet is shut down for a period of time.
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>> bobbo,
>> VOTE ALL INCUMBENTS OUT OF OFFICE!!!
Big waste of time.
Within week, all the new guys will be corrupted, too.
What we really need is:
GET THE BIG MONEY OUT OF POLITICS!!!!
U.S. out of U.S. now!
Well…..
Did they turn off the phones during WWII? No
Elton John once said that the internet should be turned off. The RIAA and MPAA probably agree.
If the g’vnt turns off the internet, how will I make my online tax payments?
Is the Kill Switch why your site was down HALF THE DAY?
Great article thanks for sharing your blog i enjoyed reading on it i will wait for the next update..
“Kill switch” B.S.! It should be ‘Kill valve’ Its a series of tubes don’t ya know? 😀
Drobbo;
The Internet IS silly, in case you haven’t read your own posts lately.
Build a wireless Internet that duplicates, and removes the power from, the corporate Internet.
Read about OLSR.
#31 for the win
OH REALLY! I was gonna let it pass, but twice on the same thread?
More a demonstration of short term lack of insight than anything else.
#31–Greg==even if all the Congresscreeps went bad after a few weeks, that would still be a few weeks more than we have now with less corruption.
The Military moves its people around every 3-5 years for this very reason. It would be cheaper for moving expenses and what not to keep people where they are as much as possible, but familiarity breeds corruption. You do me a favor, I do you one back. Worse when cash changes hands. Getting new people into congress all the time would break up the old boy network for much more than a few weeks.
Besides that, Congresscreeps want the power of being re-elected. Money is important, but getting the votes is the trump card. If ALL THE INCUMBENTS GOT VOTED OUT until only those creeps who showed they had the people’s interest at heart were retained, it would take maybe 4-5 terms for a real change.
BUT THE KEY IS: VOTING ALL THE INCUMBENTS OUT OF OFFICE is the only thing we voters can do. EVERYTHING ELSE requires Congresscreeps to pass new legislation, so that ain’t gonna happen.
So NO, advocates of the status quo of NO IDEAS, VOTING ALL INCUMBENTS OUT OF OFFICE is the only rational thing to do. Change we can believe in.
#40–HMyers==a man of mature judgment like yourself calling for a win on a tangential issue off the main point of the thread. Moronic. Just like a person who will not VOTE ALL INCUMBENTS OUT OF OFFICE!!!
Public Financing of elections would be fine except the Congresscreeps would have to pass it and they won’t. Some teabaggers was interviewed just the other day. It would be outrageous they thought that his taxes would be forced out of him to pay for candidates to run for office that he didn’t support. Real deep thinker there leading us back to VOTE ALL INCUMBENTS OUT OF OFFICE.
Hope you have the rudimentary ability to learn anything new.
I once had a student ask if we lived in the USSR. I told her no. Give these people a few more years and I’ll change my mind.
If the Internet becomes insecure, “secure” users should switch to a trustworthy alternative, then leave the rest of the Internet intact, to use at your own risk, so to speak.
Saddam Hussein used to throttle the electricity and water of his subjects to express his displeasure. I can see Obama squeezing the internet if he becomes unhappy with his subjects.
“VOTE ALL INCUMBENTS OUT OF OFFICE” might slow down the lobbyists for a bit, but the new incumbents would be corrupted shortly thereafter. That would happen to members of any party.
Simple but perhaps idealistic answer: allow no campaign contributions to anyone running for public office, from President right down to the dogcatcher.