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View Full Version : Lieberman's "Kill switch" for internet



Ganzta
18 Jun 2010, 10:58pm
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/obama-internet-kill-switch-proposed-20100618-yln6.html


US President Barack Obama would be granted powers to seize control of and even shut down the internet under a new bill that describes the global internet as a US "national asset".

Local lobby groups and academics have rounded on the plan, saying that, rather than combat terrorists, it would actually do them "the biggest favour ever" by terrorising the rest of the world, which is now heavily reliant on cyberspace.

The proposed legislation, introduced into the US Senate by independent senator Joe Lieberman, who is chairman of the US Homeland Security committee, seeks to grant the President broad emergency powers over the internet in times of national emergency.

Titled "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act", the bill stipulates any internet firms and providers must "immediately comply with any emergency measure or action developed" by a new section of the US Department of Homeland Security, dubbed the "National Centre for Cybersecurity and Communications".

Lobby group TechAmerica told ZDNet it worried that the bill would give the US "absolute power" over the internet and create "unintended consequences".

One of Australia's top communications experts, University of Sydney associate professor Bjorn Landfeldt, railed against the idea, saying shutting down the internet would "inflict an enormous damage on the entire world".

He said it would be like giving a single country "the right to poison the atmosphere, or poison the ocean".

"All our financial systems, all our security systems ... we're so reliant on the internet that if you shut it down there's a question of whether society will continue to operate normally anywhere in the Western world," Landfeldt said in a phone interview.

"By doing this they would do the terrorists the biggest favour ever because they would terrorise the rest of the world".

Landfeldt said the US would be the only country in the world with the ability to shut down the internet. He said such a move would be extremely difficult for the US to justify to other nations.

"Unfortunately, too much of the core of the internet resides in the US - let's put it this way, they cannot shut down machines in Australia, but they can completely isolate us and shut down certain core functions like the DNS ... they can render the internet fairly useless for the rest of the world," he said.

Senator Susan Collins, co-sponsor of the bill, has said: "We cannot afford to wait for a cyber-9/11."

Lieberman argued the bill was necessary to "preserve those networks and assets and our country and protect our people".

He said that, for all its allure, the internet could also be a "dangerous place with electronic pipelines that run directly into everything from our personal bank accounts to key infrastructure to government and industrial secrets".

US economic security, national security and public safety were now all at risk from new kinds of enemies, including "cyber warriors, cyber spies, cyber terrorists and cyber criminals".

Geordie Guy, spokesman for the online users' lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia, said governments around the world seemed terrified of some unidentified risk that they believe the internet poses.

"The proposal is from Joe Lieberman, a repeat offender on rights versus regulation, in a bill called Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010," he said.

"One wonders which nation Senator Lieberman considers the internet an asset of, and how proposing its destruction by presidential or homeland security order protects it.

"The internet is not a national asset of the United States, nor is it a media regulation problem of Australia. It is an international network used by millions upon millions of citizens and it needs to remain free and available."

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy did not respond to calls requesting comment.

Google, one of the world's biggest internet companies, declined to comment as it was not yet official US government policy.
Fucking Lieberman. We're not China, kthxbai.

SgtJoo
18 Jun 2010, 11:06pm
Fuck. That. That is all.

andre1028
19 Jun 2010, 07:18am
Sigh..

Harry
19 Jun 2010, 07:27am
Have fun shutting down "the Internet".... tell that to my 99.99% SLA. If this stupid bill ever got passed, and if they ever "flipped the switch", you can expect a lot of lawsuits from professional companies.

PotshotPolka
19 Jun 2010, 08:29am
Have fun shutting down "the Internet".... tell that to my 99.99% SLA. If this stupid bill ever got passed, and if they ever "flipped the switch", you can expect a lot of lawsuits from professional companies.

Companies don't have much of a comeback to martial law.

Toxin
19 Jun 2010, 10:22am
"Cyber 9/11" .... seriously?

PotshotPolka
19 Jun 2010, 01:04pm
"Cyber 9/11" .... seriously?

They're gonna fly a plane into Google HQ.

Prez
19 Jun 2010, 01:06pm
Wow.

TerrorBite
19 Jun 2010, 01:11pm
thay wouldnt shut it down anyway, because theres no point and loads of companies will go bankrupt and shit like that

PotshotPolka
19 Jun 2010, 01:56pm
thay wouldnt shut it down anyway, because theres no point and loads of companies will go bankrupt and shit like that

There is if an actual war was on and they wanted to be able to sever incoming connections at will en masse to prevent DOS attacks on government networks.

Bad Dog
19 Jun 2010, 05:33pm
Cyber warriors? I fail to see how my Orc warrior is a threat to Homeland security.

KScorp
19 Jun 2010, 05:49pm
Lieberman just wants to create "cyber 9/11" before the terrorists have a chance.

Omar
19 Jun 2010, 05:54pm
Cyber 9/11 fuck yea Osama is gonna go rape every guy in wow in a PVE server, running around in DALARAN, yup yup.

And then he's gonna hax0r google so it only searches "How to make C4 suicide bombs while eating hummus"

azn_lobster
19 Jun 2010, 09:47pm
A government must balance civil liberties and national security. This bill is wrong.

Bald
19 Jun 2010, 11:35pm
They can go ahead and allow the president but I believe it's almost like the time when we allowed our president full military control. Which is why North and South Korea are fuckin' each other for an agreement...if my 3 weeks old history is correct.

Delirium
19 Jun 2010, 11:55pm
I swear to god, If I get to 99% on my porn and they flip the switch, I don't even know what's about to go down.... O wait, yeah I do.

Ultramarine
20 Jun 2010, 04:34am
I swear to god, If I get to 99% on my porn and they flip the switch, I don't even know what's about to go down.... O wait, yeah I do.

http://www.imgpath.com/index.php?module=thumbnail&file=z6p7um8nervts7kank0.jpg

c0bra067
22 Jun 2010, 12:36pm
can an admin rename this thread Lieberman's "Kill switch" for his career

Lordcrazy
1 Jul 2010, 10:46pm
Well guys, terrorists can use the internet to get into the government. Have you ever seen the recent Live Free Die Hard? ( I may have the wrong title) This is just a safety precaution mostly the way I see it so.. Just incase a go happy hacker hacks into all the utilities through the internet they can stop it. On the bad side, if we get a meh president and he uses this to piss everyone off and then says "IT'S CONGRESS' FAULT!" we're officially screwed.

Ganzta
1 Jul 2010, 11:46pm
Well guys, terrorists can use the internet to get into the government. Have you ever seen the recent Live Free Die Hard? ( I may have the wrong title) This is just a safety precaution mostly the way I see it so.. Just incase a go happy hacker hacks into all the utilities through the internet they can stop it. On the bad side, if we get a meh president and he uses this to piss everyone off and then says "IT'S CONGRESS' FAULT!" we're officially screwed.

Basing your opinion on politics off action movies is definitely the way to go.

Lordcrazy
3 Jul 2010, 01:16pm
You know it can happen... If you want proof look it up.

tacosndew
4 Jul 2010, 07:13am
Yea this is ridiculous, this whole new government is out of control, trying to take away the internet whenever they feel like it, imma chargin mah lazor.

Bilbo Baggins
4 Jul 2010, 11:50pm
Yea this is ridiculous, this whole new government is out of control, trying to take away the internet whenever they feel like it, imma chargin mah lazor.

I fail to see this 'whole new government' thing you're talking about.... Anyway an internet kill switch is a horrible idea, but what most people do seem to overlook is that this 'killswitch' for the internet would be a step in the right direction from where we are now. That's because the current law basically allows the government to take any 'wired communication' system to shut down or use for government use, so would I rather the government be able to take down parts of the internet over the entire infrastructure yes. But I do think that any government tampering with communication systems is silly, because really should anything actually happen they're going to notice after it happens so taking the system down will only cause more harm than good. Instead the government should invest in a better firewall.

tacosndew
5 Jul 2010, 11:13am
I fail to see this 'whole new government' thing you're talking about.... Anyway an internet kill switch is a horrible idea, but what most people do seem to overlook is that this 'killswitch' for the internet would be a step in the right direction from where we are now. That's because the current law basically allows the government to take any 'wired communication' system to shut down or use for government use, so would I rather the government be able to take down parts of the internet over the entire infrastructure yes. But I do think that any government tampering with communication systems is silly, because really should anything actually happen they're going to notice after it happens so taking the system down will only cause more harm than good. Instead the government should invest in a better firewall.

when i say "this whole new government" i'm talking about the new liberal government which is messing stuff up for people who acutally work for their things, and attempting to transform America into a socialist/police state, i say no thanks:usa2:

Bilbo Baggins
5 Jul 2010, 11:25am
when i say "this whole new government" i'm talking about the new liberal government which is messing stuff up for people who acutally work for their things, and attempting to transform America into a socialist/police state, i say no thanks:usa2:

Hate to burst your bubble but this bill specifically is co-sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins who happens to be a republican and by any stretch she can barely be considered a moderate. Furthermore the biggest hit to personal liberties was the PATRIOT Act which if I recall correctly was a Bush thing. (Yeah, I'm a liberal)

tacosndew
5 Jul 2010, 11:44pm
bilbo i'm just bitching :laugh: just not a fan of socialism. even though what you said about the sponsorship is right, lotsa republicans these days are lame and not really conservative

Ganzta
6 Jul 2010, 12:55am
when i say "this whole new government" i'm talking about the new liberal government which is messing stuff up for people who acutally work for their things, and attempting to transform America into a socialist/police state, i say no thanks:usa2:

You should go back to watching Glenn Beck and stop posting here.

Sander Cohen
6 Jul 2010, 01:55am
attempting to transform America into a socialist/police state

LOL WUT

tacosndew
6 Jul 2010, 08:54am
Glenn Beck is a psycho Canadian, I don't watch that noise

PotshotPolka
6 Jul 2010, 11:01am
Glenn Beck is a psycho Canadian, I don't watch that noise

protip: police state =/= socialist state. Go look at the Swedes and Norwegians if you don't believe me.

tacosndew
6 Jul 2010, 07:38pm
protip: police state =/= socialist state. Go look at the Swedes and Norwegians if you don't believe me.

i lived in sweden for 3 years, it's no good

PotshotPolka
6 Jul 2010, 08:08pm
i lived in sweden for 3 years, it's no good

Were you harassed by police and government bureaucrats for expressing your opinions, to the point you were put at a disadvantage for dissenting against the government in power? Were you coerced into voting for the party in power? Were you ever beaten or detained by police for expressing your opinions in public?

If not, then you probably weren't living in a police state.

SgtJoo
6 Jul 2010, 08:10pm
i lived in sweden for 3 years, it's no good

No good =/= police state as Potshot so eloquently expressed.

Metal
6 Jul 2010, 08:25pm
blame the chanchanchanchan

PotshotPolka
7 Jul 2010, 09:25pm
blame the chanchanchanchan

I do.

Focus_
17 Aug 2010, 11:01am
I don't see how they would actually "kill" the internet. They obviously wouldn't be able to go around and shut down all of the world's servers, so they would probably shut down all the ISPs I'm guessing.

Lordcrazy
18 Aug 2010, 10:01am
Focus has a good point, but he is also a bumper...

Sniper
18 Aug 2010, 10:19am
They don't need to shut down the internet to protect the U.S. They just need the skills of the Steam Gamers community. We'll take care of that cyber-terrorism for them.

Jazzyy
18 Aug 2010, 06:57pm
It's not for cyber-terrorism. The lobby group TechAmerican is correct, it can lead to zionist media, which is bad. But I don't think it should be able to be passed. I mean limiting the internet is pretty much like banning a newspaper. The internet is a source of free speech, etc. Disabling the internet in a terrorist attack doesn't limit terrorism. in fact it's causing more destruction than you can consider. It's like shutting off electricity. (what a hyperbole i know). It can severe businesses and trades. Even now, with the economy in the shit back, a second dip stock market crash on the horizon, and a war we're fighting that can't be won, we must still tread lightly and protect what little amendments we have left that aren't unreasonably broken.

Focus_
18 Aug 2010, 07:25pm
We'll take care of that cyber-terrorism for them.

I think /b/ would do a better job.

... oh wait, it would probably be their fault actually..

Lemonstein
19 Aug 2010, 11:05am
I think /b/ would do a better job.

... oh wait, it would probably be their fault actually..

http://knowyourmeme.com/i/000/066/488/original/origthread.png?1282182718

Metal
19 Aug 2010, 11:34am
http://knowyourmeme.com/i/000/066/488/original/origthread.png?1282182718

Thats the 4chan i love!

=P

Nasdaqian
3 Oct 2010, 11:19pm
I dont think terrorists are smart enough to use a computer, most arent smart enough to plant a bomb instead of suicide bomb for virgins (their beliefs never said female virgins :p)