Senate proposes Internet "kill switch"

Azreal, free radio and television are broadcast over the public airwaves, which is why they're ultimately under the control of the U.S. government. The Internet is a separate entity.
This would be like the government forcing all newspapers to quit publishing if another terrorist attack against the country occurred.
Also, as mentioned earlier, the EBS also provides some information and then returns you to your normal programming. This would just shut down the Internet -- no information, no explanation.
But, hey, if China thinks it's cool, why not?
I guess this would take care of that whole 'too much information' on the Internet problem.

 

When I was in China, they conveniently edited CNN, too. Any story about a sensitive topic (boycotts of Carrefour, Olympics protests, Tibet), suddenly, the transmission of foreign cable news channels would go black for exactly as long as the story took.

Any government that has the power to "kill" an information source has the power to censor unwanted information. Give the government the power to do that, and they will. The current administration might not, nor might the next administration, but I don't want to give powers like Internet censorship or those given in the Patriot Act to future leaders whom we may not trust.

 

TPM says there's nothing nefarious going on, although I can't exactly make heads or tails of the story. Go figure...

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/06/lieberman_pushing_internet_kill_switch.php?ref=fpblg

 

They also blocked certain Olympic writer blogs. Phil Hersh's Trib blog was one of them.

Anyone who thinks this bill is a good thing is a fucking fool.

 

How is this possibly a good thing?

 

I think they're saying the bill actually reins in the President's power rather than broadens it.

 

These gentlemen strongly suggest against shutting anything off.

 

To think this guy once ran on the same ticket with the guy who invented the interwebs.

 

Good point . . . but since Kerry (Gore's obvious first choice) wasn't
going to take it, since Kerry himself was looking for the top spot on the ticket, down the road, Noxious Joe was Big Al's Plan B.

 

Supposedly for every $1,000,000 spent on homeland security, $800,000 is spent protecting the internet.

From a military standpoint, it seems to me that the internet would be similar to bridges and roads. If we have a road compromised in a battle, a good general would blow it up or make it impassable to stop the onrushing army.

If our internet is compromised, say the banking industry or our flights, and we have lost control of it, we would need a kill switch. Imagine if we have lost all controls of say public works in New York City. I will bet that all those pumps and valves are now controlled via a web-based technology. Do you think a person could flood the subway system with the correct valve turns and possible pipe breaks?

I don't think everyone understands how much of our day-to-day life is now controlled by the internet.

I would also bet a months paycheck that this kill switch already exists.

 

I think people have watched too much Die Hard lately if they are worried about that sort of thing.

 

If this were to pass, with my luck as a sportswriter, the first time the Govt. would impose the blackout, or whatever you want to call it, would occur during College Football Media Days, when the only way to get info is via the internet because colleges are cutting back on/ceasing publication of media guides.