Poll: Sentate Committee passed "Internet Kill switch" Bill

[McNinja]

If you haven't heard, a senate committee recently passed the bill which Sen. Joe Liberman proposed as basically a way for the president to shut down the internet.

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/06/26/cyberspace-protection-bill-approved-no-kill-switch/

However, there appears to be no actual "kill switch" mentioned. The bill would instead create a new agency that would monitor all things cyber-related, and would be the FBI of cyberspace.

To quote a friend, "This is bullshit...if our country can't secure their own shit then we deserve to be broken into. This administration has no idea what they are doing with 'cybersecurity.'"

So, Escapists, what do you all think? Is the Obama Administation overstepping its boundaries, or could the creation of a new agency be benficial to the security of our country?

In my opinion, this is just plain wrong. The DoD and Homeland Security already have massive countermeasures for a cyber-attack. Besides, nearly all the agencies have cyber-divisions, and the Air Force has a large chunk devoted to cyber-security (and who knows what the NSA is doing). Establishing a new agency is a waste of time and money the could be better spent fixing the country.

Also, this reminds me of the full-body scanners proposed for airport security. Some people were willing to have a little of their privacy taken away (considering the full body scan scans your entire body... just let that sink in for a moment) for a minor increase to security. As Benjamin Franklin said, "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

 

[Seth Smith]

I actually think it would be cooler if he had a literal "kill switch". Like a button in a special case that he would press to shut down the internet. Think about the movies that could inspire! In a post-apocalyptic world, porn is out of control and 4chan has distracted the world's economy to a standstill. Only one man can battle his way to the white house, shut down the internet, and save the world! Bruce Willis would be perfect.

 

[Seth Smith]

again, when will they ever need to turn off the ENTIRE internet? seems unnecessary.

See above post.

 

[Pimppeter2]

It'll most likely never be used in any of our lifetimes. And second of all its just making one big division out of the divisions that were part of other divisions (division!). Its happened before.

As for full body scans. My penis is magnificent, iy would be a crime against humanity not to let them see it.

 

[Ham_authority95]

*face-palm*

As you said, there are already more than enough agencies that focus on internet security, so why make another one and spend more of our defense budget?

However, I'm not that concerned about the other parts of it, since the amount of activity on the internet that would be considered "illegal" is so large that these security agencies ultimately futile.

OR my opinion is idiotic and uneducated. Either way, I can just move out of the US if it become that big of a problem.

 

[Cabisco]

What would they be doing? It hasn't been explained to me what these people intend to do, all I hear is that barriers have been crossed, and they have gone to far. What do these people intend to do, just arrest random people for no reason, or just to make graphs of what porn you watch?

Please, can someone explain what they intend to do, not what you think they might do.

 

[manythings]

Big Brother? Is that you?

Look at the time, it's 1984 already.

 

[spartan231490]

It's a violation of our collective, constitutional right to privacy. Not to mention an impediment to free speach, and if you believe in intellectual property as a concept, it is also a violation of our 4th ammendment right to protection against illegal search and siezure. 3 ammendments in one shot, congratulations congress, thats almost as bad as the patriot act. My only regret is that i wont actually get to see any of you burn in hell.

 

[the idiot computer]

Damn it, can't i watch my porn in peace!

I hope the UK isn't under the effect of his so called "kill switch".

 

[spartan231490]

If you haven't heard, a senate committee recently passed the bill which Sen. Joe Liberman proposed as basically a way for the president to shut down the internet.

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/06/26/cyberspace-protection-bill-approved-no-kill-switch/

However, there appears to be no actual "kill switch" mentioned. The bill would instead create a new agency that would monitor all things cyber-related, and would be the FBI of cyberspace.

To quote a friend, "This is bullshit...if our country can't secure their own shit then we deserve to be broken into. This administration has no idea what they are doing with 'cybersecurity.'"

So, Escapists, what do you all think? Is the Obama Administation overstepping its boundaries, or could the creation of a new agency be benficial to the security of our country?

In my opinion, this is just plain wrong. The DoD and Homeland Security already have massive countermeasures for a cyber-attack. Besides, nearly all the agencies have cyber-divisions, and the Air Force has a large chunk devoted to cyber-security (and who knows what the NSA is doing). Establishing a new agency is a waste of time and money the could be better spent fixing the country.

Also, this reminds me of the full-body scanners proposed for airport security. Some people were willing to have a little of their privacy taken away (considering the full body scan scans your entire body... just let that sink in for a moment) for a minor increase to security. As Benjamin Franklin said, "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Your friend apparently hasn't been keeping up on current events. Basic problem is, nobody, thought about prevention prior to the inception of the internet. Nobody. Music Industry, Movie Industry, Software Industry, Banks, Power Companies etc... Nobody. If there's a remote access point worth getting into, someone's going to figure out how to do it.

I'm not necessarily for this measure, however, I can understand their thinking. Given the last sweep of our power infrastructure, we found foreign programs left behind that could've been used as remote kill switches. Our infrastructure, is actually woe-fully under-protected, if you think about it. We don't have the numbers, compared to some of our adversaries. And while we may have as much invested in it, we don't necessarily have the populace already thoroughly obsessed with it from childhood. Computer Geek in this country, has, after all, been a derogatory slang term in the US for quite some time. In other places, that isn't so.

And wow, did you even read what that Bill does? It creates a new agency, the NCCC (National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications), it also LIMITS the Presidents power of authority over communications:

"Those backing the bill, including Senator Joe Lieberman, say that instead of granting the Presidency some sort of new superpower over the Internet, that the PCNAA would actually limit the power granted by section 706 of the now-ancient Communications Act of 1934. Comparing the two, they appear to be right."

It does make a new agency, however, from what that article says the agency works more closely with the private sector on security holes and response. The FEMA of the internet, according to that writer.

As long as it's a better FEMA than the real one, I don't see why this is a bad thing.

I can understand the thinking behind a lot of things that are outright wrong. I intellectually understand why Hitler thought the holocaust was a good idea, that doesnt make it right, or even justifiable. This bill is an attack against american rights and just like we did with the patriot act, we will not object to an unconstitutional bill just because we are too lazy to say anything, and too afraid of some unspecified doom that the government says is coming. Why would a forign power install remote kill switches in our infrastructure, and then not only fail to use them, but delay so long that we found them in what was probably a simple system sweep? It doesn't make any sense. "those who sacrifice liberty for a little security deseve neither" Ben Franklin.

 

[Death_Korps_Kommissar]

Is it just me or is the whole world slowly getting more and more fascist?

 

[TheTim]

good bye freedoms.