New Bill Gives Obama ?Kill Switch? To Shut Down The Internet

[priviet02]

The federal government would have ?absolute power? to shut down the Internet under the terms of a new US Senate bill being pushed by Jewish senator 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 legislation says that companies such as broadband providers, search engines or software firms that the US 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,? reports ZDNet?s Declan McCullagh.

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.

?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 US Treasury will even pick up the private company?s tab,? writes McCullagh.

Tom Gann, McAfee?s vice president for government relations, described the bill as a ?very important piece of legislation?.

As we have repeatedly warned for years, the federal government is desperate to seize control of the Internet because the establishment is petrified at the fact that alternative and independent media outlets are now eclipsing corporate media outlets in terms of audience share, trust, and influence.

We witnessed another example of this on Monday when establishment Congressman Bob Etheridge was publicly shamed after he was shown on video assaulting two college students who asked him a question. Two kids with a flip cam and a You Tube account could very well have changed the course of a state election, another startling reminder of the power of the Internet and independent media, and why the establishment is desperate to take that power away.

The government has been searching for any avenue possible through which to regulate free speech on the Internet and strangle alternative media outlets, with the FTC recently proposing a ?Drudge Tax? that would force independent media organizations to pay fees that would be used to fund mainstream newspapers.

Similar legislation aimed at imposing Chinese-style censorship of the Internet and giving the state the power to shut down networks has already been passed globally, including in the UK, New Zealand and Australia.

We have extensively covered efforts to scrap the internet as we know it and move toward a greatly restricted ?internet 2″ system. Handing government the power to control the Internet would only be the first step towards this system, whereby individual ID?s and government permission would be required simply to operate a website.

The Lieberman bill needs to be met with fierce opposition at every level and from across the political spectrum. Regulation of the Internet would not only represent a massive assault on free speech, it would also create new roadblocks for e-commerce and as a consequence further devastate the economy.


http://www.eutimes.net/2010/06/new-b...-the-internet/


saw this story and thought it wud be interesting to read......he surely wud be met with strong oposition ......it wud make obama loadz more unpopular

priviet02 Reviewed by priviet02 on 21st Jun 2010. New Bill Gives Obama ?Kill Switch? To Shut Down The Internet The federal government would have ?absolute power? to shut down the Internet under the terms of a new US Senate bill being pushed by Jewish senator 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 Rating: 5

[rap^]

Waste of time ,whont work.

[Mr Happy]

How can the US have power over the whole world. I know a lot of server farms are based in the US as well as large companies like Google, Ebay, Facebook etc but they can't stop the whole internet. Also if the US Goverment were to have to compensate these companies they'd go bust. Financially the country along with the world global markets would collapse.

This is pointless. It's more stupid than spending millions on maintaining thousands of atomic bombs that will never be used and are a massive security risk.

[Ronald]

Obama wouldn't do this.

[priviet02]

well as i said alot of people and countrys wud be annoyed ....in the case of compensation america generally just keeps printing money and to hell with the dangers lol...

but generally no one person can have that control over internet.....it was created so that know one cud govern it

[CM]

Why do I think I read about this a while back? (As in this is older news?)

Anyway, it's all for the greater good. This is prolly our backup plan against SkyNet.

[priviet02]

i only just recently cam across it...sorry if its already been posted

[Lifetalk]

^ Stop worrying about SkyNet. My army of cyborgs shut their network down last night. Was a fun battle. You should of come. We totally OWNED them!

EDIT: Although I am missing 2 limbs (an arm, and a leg). Regardless, it was fun!

[Spooky]

NO one person (president of US or not) has got the power to close the "net".

All this is is ppl wanting to make "news" for their own gain.



A load of crap.

[SaBteCh]

lol bullshit... If the net is closed then there will be end of world..