Proposed Bill Gives Obama Power to Shut Down Internet
- Thread starter The_root_of_all_evil
- Start date
Man: President Obama! A man on the Internet is coughing!
Obama: SHUT
Obama: DOWN
Obama: EVERYTHING
I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.
Obama: SHUT
Obama: DOWN
Obama: EVERYTHING
I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.
No it totally changes everything to people who think world leaders get bored and decide to flip the off switch on the Internet just because (i.e. most of the people here, who I somehow thought were smarter than that). If anything this would (ideally) be used in the event of some virus outbreak that got its hooks into some government computers.CoreofexisteNz said:
But of course I forgot that this is the Internet where we aren't sensible and thus as an American I am automatically in favor of believing my country is the most important and we can do whatever. *SARCASM*
FURTHERMORE. This bill was proposed by SENATORS. Not the PRESIDENT. Does anybody here actually know how checks and balances work in the US Government? The President cannot issue laws (except by executive order which this is not), The Legislative Branch are the ones moving this idea. And even if it has Obama's backing, odds are it probably won't get through in a draconian fashion, instead toning it down so that whatever CyberWarfare division is created will be able to do their jobs without completely taking the United States off the grid every time some fucktard decides to release a virus or worm for shits and giggles. So I'm guessing this story is either blowing it out of proportion, or as usual worrying before something has even happened. Given the online reaction (oh look, another cry of "socialist!" by someone who doesn't even know what the fucking word means), I'm guessing it's both.
I wonder how people would react if they knew the entire UN at one point wished to control the Internet? Granted that is more sensible since it is the world wide web after all, but still you'd probably all be up in arms wondering when it's Nigeria's turn to hold the button
I'm imagining the government browsing /b/ and shutting off the internet on a daily basis.
Seriously, let's hope this fails, and if it does pass, that Obama will never use it, nor will any other president.
Seriously, let's hope this fails, and if it does pass, that Obama will never use it, nor will any other president.
are you saying there are only 6 or 7 terrorists in the world?EquinoxETO said:
but on topic, i think this is getting out of hand. the USA can't shut down the internet, after all it's a private endeavour, it has no affiliation with the american DoD or anything like that. (well, no important affiliation anyway)
He has touted 'Internet Security' from day one of his campaign. He'll sign it into law without so much as a moment of silence for the rape and murder of the Constitution.A random person said:
Hell, it's been only a few months and we already have several nationalized corporations.
So... where does one go to sign up for the resistance?
UtopiaV1 said:
Quoted for awesomness.
Seriously, you just made my life happier.
Anyway, can he honestly have the power to shut down any part of the internet, to anywhere in the world? That's actually possible? Not just censoring it like in America?
That's a whole new barrel of scary.
"Ohmygawd, some just spambombed the White House!" a frantic intern screams. She scrolls her inbox, only to find more and more spam.
"What should we do Mr. President?" a Secret Serviceman asks with a hand on his pistol, looking around for cyberterrorists jumping in for a shot at the President.
Obama bows his head and puts his arms on his desk. For several minutes noone speaks. All that can be heard is the audio of "You're the 1 millionth visitor to this site! Click here for your free Macbook Air!" coming from a nearby computer. With a heavy sigh and slumped shoulders, Obama stands up.
He turns out looks out the White House lawn. He can see a Starbucks in the distance. It's probably full of people on their Macbooks, writing novels that will never be published and updating their Twitters every few minutes. At the fence in front of the White House, he spots a young girl, Blackberry in hand. Obama feels the pda in his own pocket, and knows the cost of what he is about to do. With a heavy heart and a mind whirling at the possible consequences, he straightens up and turns to the serviceman.
"Shut down the internet."
"What should we do Mr. President?" a Secret Serviceman asks with a hand on his pistol, looking around for cyberterrorists jumping in for a shot at the President.
Obama bows his head and puts his arms on his desk. For several minutes noone speaks. All that can be heard is the audio of "You're the 1 millionth visitor to this site! Click here for your free Macbook Air!" coming from a nearby computer. With a heavy sigh and slumped shoulders, Obama stands up.
He turns out looks out the White House lawn. He can see a Starbucks in the distance. It's probably full of people on their Macbooks, writing novels that will never be published and updating their Twitters every few minutes. At the fence in front of the White House, he spots a young girl, Blackberry in hand. Obama feels the pda in his own pocket, and knows the cost of what he is about to do. With a heavy heart and a mind whirling at the possible consequences, he straightens up and turns to the serviceman.
"Shut down the internet."
Don't know if this has been said yet, since i'm not going to bother reading through the "OMG AMERICA EVIL/DICTATOR" posts. However, I feel that most of you lack understanding of how congress works.
The bill will obviously be looked at by a committee, to determine it's worth and what exactly it should entail. As it is now, it's just a vague blueprint. There's also plenty of things that rely on the internet, such as phone services, cell phones, emergency services, etc. In fact, even nuclear plants and the like use the internet these days.
I will admit though. I am totally against this, because it does sound like something that could be too easily abused. It also sets a bad precedent...and it'd be awful if they ever used it.
Finally, I want to say one last statement, about the general idea of internet and phone monitoring...none of you are important enough for the government to waste it's time with. Think about how much each and every single person talks on the phone each day. Then think about those that talk in foreign languages, in leet speak, in random nonsense codes. Add in the jokes/idle threats people make all the time, such as "I'm going to kill Bush, he's such an idiot." The intelligence agencies TRIED the monitoring bit once, back in the McCarthy era. It failed, miserably. It's been proven that it can't be done. Even when they did the phone taps, it was very specifically targeted.
The bill will obviously be looked at by a committee, to determine it's worth and what exactly it should entail. As it is now, it's just a vague blueprint. There's also plenty of things that rely on the internet, such as phone services, cell phones, emergency services, etc. In fact, even nuclear plants and the like use the internet these days.
I will admit though. I am totally against this, because it does sound like something that could be too easily abused. It also sets a bad precedent...and it'd be awful if they ever used it.
Finally, I want to say one last statement, about the general idea of internet and phone monitoring...none of you are important enough for the government to waste it's time with. Think about how much each and every single person talks on the phone each day. Then think about those that talk in foreign languages, in leet speak, in random nonsense codes. Add in the jokes/idle threats people make all the time, such as "I'm going to kill Bush, he's such an idiot." The intelligence agencies TRIED the monitoring bit once, back in the McCarthy era. It failed, miserably. It's been proven that it can't be done. Even when they did the phone taps, it was very specifically targeted.
Oh dear God we're fucked...
There is no, absolutely NO REASON, why this should pass. But it probably will anyway :*(
There is no, absolutely NO REASON, why this should pass. But it probably will anyway :*(
