Obama may get power to shut down Internet without court oversight

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/power-shut-internet-court-oversight/#

A bill giving the president an Internet "kill switch" during times of emergency that failed to pass Congress last year will return this year, but with a revision that has many civil liberties advocates concerned: It will give the president the ability to shut down parts of the Internet without any court oversight.

The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act was introduced last year by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) in an effort to combat cyber-crime and the threat of online warfare and terrorism.

Critics said the bill would allow the president to disconnect Internet networks and force private websites to comply with broad cybersecurity measures. Future US presidents would have those powers renewed indefinitely.

:argh:

Then there's the obverse:

China's All-Seeing Eye

How long till the President becomes a long term dictator under "Certain circumstances".

"Protecting Cyberspace" my ass.

an American flag.

It's the patriot act all over again.

Presidents, Prime Ministers, dictators, and kings are all different from each other.

Slide this through under the door while we have a more or less Democratic President, then wait till your own guy is put in office.

hates Obama.

Can't have the proles organizing rebellion online, can we?

.

There aren't many ways to get it right otherwise.

Behind the building I'm in is a huge diesel generator with enough fuel to run for about 20 days. Power for the whole CO

Okay, so you are going to take down just about every business in the country...

Also, hey Vonage, sorry, you are going down :rofl: And all those folks who won't be able to dial 911, they will get re-order treatment.

The Internet is just a huge time waster anyways.

Has anyone, anywhere, ever presented any legitimate reason - any kind of potential emergency - that would actually BENEFIT from shutting the Internet down?

It's about as useful an option as having a universal sewage treatment plant kill switch. Some kid flushes an M-80 down the toilet: Bingo! shut off all the sewage treatment in the whole country.

It's a shame you can't just fire them.

Lieberman is such an idiot, it will be a very bright day when he leaves the capitol.

Because it won't be poll numbers they have to worry about. That would be enough to set Americans off. Let's face it, very little sends Americans off of their couches or chairs to fight for these days. Take away their TV or Internet though and now you're talking about torches and pitchforks.

I almost dare a President to try it because if they do, they might as well forget about law, order or the rest of an elected term.

Rp

Anything to feed the irrational fears of the fringe, I guess.

"We're not trying to mandate any requirements for the entire Internet, the entire Internet backbone," said Brandon Milhorn, Republican staff director and counsel for the committee.

Instead, Milhorn said at a conference in Washington, D.C., the point of the proposal is to assert governmental control only over those "crucial components that form our nation's critical infrastructure."

From CNET, with links: Internet 'kill switch' bill will return

FYI: The outlying fringe at CBS owns CNET.

:sarcasm:

"Raw" story...of course, just wasted time composing a couple posts :rofl:

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:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Yeah the fairness doctrine, and after that free kittens and rainbows for everyone! Right after we kill your internet.

Yeah this is one great idea. :eyes: