There is a bill pending before Congress that may give the U.S. President the power to effectively shut down the internet in the event of a “cyber attack”. Coincidentally, this bill was introduced before the Legislature on the very day that the Egyptian government shut down internet access in that country.
The underlying idea of the “Cybersecurity and Internet Freedom Act of 2011” is to protect critical infrastructure from online attack. The bill would give the President the power to Senator Joseph Lieberman, one of the bill’s proponents, stated that, “we need the capacity for the President to say, Internet Service Provider, we’ve got to disconnect the American Internet from all traffic coming in from another foreign country…”
The Department of Homeland Security, relying on the Communications Act of 1934, thinks the oval office already has the power to shut the ‘net down. If there is a threat of war, that law gives the President the power to “cause the closing of any facility or station for wire communication” without advanced warning. Is an ISP a “station for wire communication”? Arguably it is.
Detractors of the current bill are calling it an “internet kill switch”. Many argue that it would create a huge intrusion on privacy and personal autonomy – citing the premise that private industries are better suited for policing themselves from cyber attack.
What do you think? Should the President be able to “kill” the internet in times of crisis? Original article here: http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/06/in-search-of-the-internet-kill-switch/?ncid=webmail
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