[Lash]

What do you think about the possibility of this happening? Could you imagine the internet being shut down in cases of "emergency"?

Senators propose granting president emergency Internet power


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.



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."



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.



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.

Actual PDF here if you want to read the bill itself. To read the rest of the CNET article, go here The above is just pieces from the article

Does this mean cell phones and home computers and virtually all internet access in all cases? Yes, yes it does

Liberman recently defended the PCNAA, arguing that it was imperative the president had the ability to "say to an electric company or to say to Verizon, in the national interest, 'There's an attack about to come, and I hereby order you to put a patch on this, or put your network down on this part, or stop accepting any incoming from country A.'"

So the idea in this one isn't to have a political debate itself. This isn't about politics but the idea of NEEDING an internet kill switch, or possible hazards that will come with this type of approach

Scary isn't it?

[Lash]

I know this has been proposed in the past, but apparently this is getting MUCH closer and has way more support than previous bills

[mayandsofiasmommy]

*haven't read responses yet*

I think this is a bad, bad idea! "killing" the internet is basically censoring everything. Yeah, there is misinformation out there, but there is also information. And it is a communication tool.

[BigGrin]

So they feel it is prudent to cut off 99% of all communication when an attack is approaching? Yeah...that makes sense.

[karkli]

Interestingly, part of the reason Al Gore invented the internet in the first place was to provide a method of communication that could bypass dead zones in the event of a nuclear emergency.

About RAND | History | Paul Baran and the Origins of the Internet

It would be quite ironic for it to be shut down in order to prevent the same type of attack.

(Obviously, the Al Gore reference is a joke. I'm soo funny.)

Anyway, I'm having a hard time coming up with a scenario where a communications kill switch would be necessary - where the benefits of pulling the switch would outweigh the utter chaos that would ensue. Can someone with a better imagination enlighten me?

[Cereal Killer]

(((shudder)))

[Jenna]

How long will it be before someone in power decides that a negative discussion about our President constitutes a national security risk? "Oh, these people might be plotting to do something bad to the President. Let's shut them down!"

[GinaB]

Originally Posted by Jenna.

How long will it be before someone in power decides that a negative discussion about our President constitutes a national security risk? "Oh, these people might be plotting to do something bad to the President. Let's shut them down!"

That seems the most likely scenerio, imo.

[plan4fate]

This frightens me. I can only imagine the chaos should all cellular service be shut down (which would effectively shut down the 911 system as well) in the mists of an attack.

I don't think it is a good idea. I can see some of the bright side of it (if terrorists, can't communicate, they may not attack) but it also leaves a huge chunk of the world in the dark.

I can only imagine Canada will also be bullied into passing something like this.. I've been waiting a new election to tell my PM where to shove it... prime time I guess.

[melkissa2004]

This is just scary.

[Red Sox Mommy]

Originally Posted by Jenna.

How long will it be before someone in power decides that a negative discussion about our President constitutes a national security risk? "Oh, these people might be plotting to do something bad to the President. Let's shut them down!"

I wonder that also.

[TheOtherMichelle]

South Park did an episode kind of like this. The internet stopped working and threw the world into chaos. People were going to great lengths to try to find the internet. It turned out one of the kids figured it out that the master switch or whatever just needed to be rebooted.

It is really scary for so many reasons. What if someone decides to deliberately throw things into chaos by getting power over the switch?

A hackers dream!

[SusieQ2]

Take my phone, take my TV, take my radio but DON'T TAKE AWAY MY INTERNET!!!

[Banned-Mommiex2]

I would guess that too many people would find a way around it, and that would spread like wildfire, and in about 3 days, everyone would be back online bypassing "the switch".

Except Al Gore.

[Fallen2Love]

It would be quite interesting that is for sure.

My first thought, as a distance education student is "Man, I hope they don't pull the kill switch when an assignment is due since professors don't accept 'internet connection issues' as an excuse for late assignments." My second thought is, "what on earth would DH do if he couldn't play on his i-phone while sitting at the dinner table." LOL!