Internet ‘Kill Switch’ Legislation Back in Play

[Joanne98]

Legislation granting the president internet-killing powers is to be re-introduced soon to a Senate committee, the proposal’s chief sponsor told Wired.com on Friday.

The resurgence of the so-called “kill switch” legislation came the same day Egyptians faced an internet blackout designed to counter massive demonstrations in that country.

The bill, which has bipartisan support, is being floated by Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican ranking member on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The proposed legislation, which Collins said would not give the president the same power Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak is exercising to quell dissent, sailed through the Homeland Security Committee in December but expired with the new Congress weeks later.

The bill is designed to protect against “significant” cyber threats before they cause damage, Collins said.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/01/kill-switch-legislation/

GRRRRRRRR

[Billy Burnett]

1. Won't hitting the kill switch hurt Comcast's profits?

I bet dollars to doughnuts that there's a tax cut or subsidy for comcast in the bill.

[Angry Dragon]

2. A really good way to get the people here pissed

How come they all want to take away all the rights of the people??

[Curmudgeoness]

3. This is incredibly scary. I cannot imagine all the things

that would be affected by killing the internet---not the least of which is my access to information. The only source of news for me (and you) would be (gasp) the MSM.

This terrifies me.

[tyne]

4. Personally....

I sure as hell hope they have a kill switch to protect our info/$$ via the web.

C'mon, leave the conspiracy crap to the right.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. I don't see this as conspiracy crap...

since it has really been done in Egypt, this gives me pause. I started to think of all the things that would be shut down by killing the internet. It would be a major inconvenience to many of us.

And as to protecting info, much of that is your responsibility. We all have to watch what you put on the internet to protect ourselves. We all know that there are a lot of criminals using the internet for all sorts of underhanded activities.

[Jed28]

9. Fear of having Government and the MSM control access to information

is not that far-fetched. Look at what's happening in Canada right now.

"The big telecom plan

Big telecoms have plans that are bigger than just adding new fees to our bills:

1. Make Internet access more expensive by imposing usage-based billing (charging per byte).
2. Slow down online services and content that competes with their own.
3. Create and push consumers toward a controlled, privately owned version of the Internet through TV, which will prioritize services of their choosing."

http://openmedia.ca/blog/world-watching

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rUsRCyS6PU&feature=player_embedded

[FirstLight]

5. This is the kind of shit

that makes me fear my govt, be it dem or repug...

and isn't it interesting that obama talks about getting DSL to rural areas at the same time this shit is happening behind closed doors?
makes me think it's all just distraction, while they plot to herd us, lest we get our own ideas or anything...
oh, and isn't the Patriot Act up for renewal too...
nice and quiet, they will do what they need to, to keep the general populace dummed down and in control... starting to feel like we are in some kind of weird dictatorship country already...

:scared: :nuke: :mad:

[IDemo]

6. Well, if they really wanted to pancake the economy, what better way?

from an article a couple of days ago on the Egyptian Internet shutdown:

Net-less Egypt may face economic doom Monday

By Wilson Rothman

Egypt's government must return Internet access to the country by Monday or perhaps suffer massive economic damage, as banks and other economic institutions return to work without the ability to conduct commerce.

It's currently the weekend in Egypt, which means the government's decision to block all Internet traffic in response to protests may seem to many of the nation's 84 million inhabitants as more of an inconvenience than cataclysm.

"If you go beyond the weekend, real damage is done to capital flow and banking," Neil Hicks, international policy analyst for Human Rights First told msnbc.com, citing a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit. Egypt is part of the world's financial infrastructure, he said. "That's probably why most governments don't do this — it hurts the state and hurts the economy."

Not only would it impact government holdings, but it's sure to hit those investors, businesses and middle-class citizens who may support the status quo of the Mubarak administration.

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/01/28/5942650-net-less-egypt-may-face-economic-doom-monday

[Kablooie]

8. Wouldn't this be a horrendously intricate technical problem?

The internet is so diffuse, particularly here in the U.S., that it would be a big chore to chop off all the potential connections.
Even if you shut down the NAPs wouldn't someone be able to use overseas or Canadian NAPs?