Cybersecurity Act would give president power to 'shut down' Internet

[Clay]

The Raw Story | Cybersecurity Act would give president power to 'shut down' Internet

Cybersecurity Act would give president power to 'shut down' Internet
Greg Fulton
Published: Monday April 13, 2009

A recently proposed but little-noticed Senate bill would allow the federal government to shut down the Internet in times of declared emergency, and enables unprecedented federal oversight of private network administration.

The bill's draft states that "the president may order a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic" and would give the government ongoing access to "all relevant data concerning (critical infrastructure) networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy restricting such access."

Authored by Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine, the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 seeks to create a Cybersecurity Czar to centralize power now held by the Pentagon, National Security Agency, Department of Commerce and the Department of Homeland Security.

While the White House has not officially endorsed the draft, it did have a hand in its language, according to The Washington Post.

Proponents of the measure stress the need to centralize cybersecurity of the private sector. "People say this is a military or intelligence concern," says Rockefeller, "but it is a lot more than that. It suddenly gets into the realm of traffic lights and rail networks and water and electricity."

Snowe added, "America's vulnerability to massive cyber-crime, global cyber-espionage and cyber-attacks has emerged as one of the most urgent national security problems facing our country today. Importantly, this legislation loosely parallels the recommendations in the CSIS [Center for Strategic and International Studies] blue-ribbon panel report to President Obama and has been embraced by a number of industry and government thought leaders."

Critics decry the broad language, and are watchful for amendments to the bill seeking to refine the provisions. According to opencongress.com, no amendments to the draft have been submitted.

Organizations like the Center for Democracy and Technology fear if passed in its current form, the proposal leaves too much discretion of just what defines critical infrastructure. The bill would also impose mandates for designated private networks and systems, including standardized security software, testing, licensing and certification of cyber-security professionals.

"I'd be very surprised if it doesn't include communications systems, which are certainly critical infrastructure," CDT General Counsel Greg Nojeim told eWEEK. "The president would decide not only what is critical infrastructure but also what is an emergency."

Adds Jennifer Granick, civil liberties director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, "Essentially, the Act would federalize critical infrastructure security. Since many systems (banks, telecommunications, energy)are in the hands of the private sector, the bill would create a major shift of power away from users and companies to the federal government."

The really unfortunate thing about this is Bayh is one of the co-authors!

 

[indykid]

The founders of this country didn't have an internet to muster the troops needed to begin this great country. Of course the country at that time was a whole bunch smaller in size.

 

[Richard]

Authoritarianism anyone?

 

[tv1217]

This adds a new level to that meme of Al Gore threatening to shut down the Internet

 

[Turtle]

The commies are coming! The commies are coming!

And to the goverment agency watching these forums..... WE ARE NOT TERRORIST! WE ARE CONCERNED AMERICANS! AND WE ARE UNITED IN PEACE!
And INDIANA ROCKS!
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.

 

[duffer426]

well after all, al gore did invent the internet. didn`t he?

 

[JcJ]

well after all, al gore did invent the internet. didn`t he?

Despite his claims I'm not so sure.. But I do believe he invented this global warming ********.

 

[Blue Tile Spook]

Compare or contrast this with the UK's remote monitoring law and it seems that the government is becoming more involved with installing controls on the internet, something that I thought the creators were against in principle, aka free flowing information.

 

[Smitty506th]

That just figures..... If we are in a state of emergency, the world is coming to and end and I cant even watch that ugly Scottish chick sing on youtube.... They always suck the fun out of life..

 

[Dr Falken]

There are already alot executive orders that could be used to shut down the country as it is, merely declaring an emergency, the President could pretty much shut the internet down now, and that would be if he was being "above board" about it. Repulican and Democratic Presidents have all contributed to the erosion of your liberties. As all powerful as the current President is, he can not claim full responsability.

 

[Richard]

Well this just convinced me to start getting into HAM radio.

 

[jennybird]

E-mail anthrax. It's a serious problem and something has to be done.

"...the bill would create a major shift of power away from users and companies to the federal government."

Ok, I work for a very large company and we have the power to shut down our own internet. Why the hell would we need the president to do it for us? I say, if the government knows of a threat, warn the companies and let them evaluate and throw the switch when and if they need to.

 

[jedi]

1) It does not take much to "shut down" the internet. You only need a pair of wire cutters to cut the physical lines where are not really secured. Last week this is exaclty what happened on the West Coast. Someone physcially cut some fiber optical lines and cellphone/internet/phone went off the grid. So it is very possible that terrorist and/or own government can do this right now.

2) As stated Executive Orders already give the president a lot of "unchecked" power to do something like this. Congress over the years have been laxed on this check of balance of power.

3) Al Gore did not invent the internet nor did he ever claim he did. Go get your facts straight on that one please.
snopes.com: Al Gore Invented the Internet

I think Gore's Global Warming is nothing but BS but stop hammering him on this internet nonsence. It just annoyies me like when they kept saying Palin said she could see into Russia from her house! (She did not say that it was the lady on the SNL skit yeah people kept saying she said it!)

 

[Richard]

3) Al Gore did not invent the internet nor did he ever claim he did. Go get your facts straight on that one please.
snopes.com: Al Gore Invented the Internet

Your right, Al Gore's direct quote: "I took initiative in creating the internet".

So yea in his defense he did say "create" not "invent".

Just an FYI I was watching the Larry King interview when he said it, there was no mistaking his rooster-crowing of his precieved accomplishment there.

Snopes.com just lost huge credibility (at least from me) from this one, especially considering the fact they quote his quote and then go on to say how he did not say the things he said or mean them the way he obviously intended.

 

[Dr Falken]

Well this just convinced me to start getting into HAM radio.

I salute you, go get your Ham license! (I was going to say +1 but that little guy keeps disappearing on me).

 

[printcraft]

The commies are coming! The commies are coming!

And to the goverment agency watching these forums..... WE ARE NOT TERRORIST! WE ARE CONCERNED AMERICANS! AND WE ARE UNITED IN PEACE!
And INDIANA ROCKS!
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.

and to the form watchers "Hey guys, it works well for China"