U.S. Government Proposes "Internet Kill Switch"

[2fish]

My internet personas just ceded from the union. We must plan ahead; build an underground internet for the resistance to use. My government has provoked the internet; we must consider our rights while we have them!

However on a logical note I would allow this if there was one line added, "The American people get a "kill switch" on Congress's pay due to the threat that they may misspend their money and hurt their family?s economic future". So all of Congress gets paid or no one gets paid or it could be state by state.

 

[Ensiferum]

As a Conservative Libertarian I'm completely opposed to this. How many freedoms do we have to sacrifice in order to be what the government considers "safe?" This has the potential to be even worse than the patriot act.

Net Neutrality FTW.

 

[Agayek]

I could have sworn Lieberman was an Independent Democrat. So wouldn't he be left wing? Or is that the problem? I haven't paid much attention with politics, they've increasingly made me jaded and depressed.

Both of the major political parties in the US are becoming more and more similar, so it doesn't much matter. The fact of the matter is, it's irrelevant which "side" it comes from. All the matters is that he's scaremongering in a fairly pathetic and transparent attempt to increase the power of the federal government. It's foolishness at it's finest, or worst as the case may be.

 

[londelen]

I hate when stuff like this happens.

 

[YourlocalPCsnob]

Need I say it?
ITS A CONSPIRACY!!11!!1!1!!!

 

[Kukakkau]

What? Don't do that! What if he gets pissed at a modern warfare kid calling his mum a whore? The world would suffer the presidents rage quit wrath...

 

[sougo13]

"preserve those networks and assets and our country and protect our people."

Yep, because the internet clearly exist only for America.

 

[Shynobee]

Whaaaaaaaaaat?

This is insane. I cannot think of any event that is even remotely feasible that would require the entire internet to be turned off.

even if some hackers in another country managed to gain control of the US economic assests via the internet? Some one hacks into the NY Stock Exchange database? Someone gains control of TEH NUKEZ?!?!?!?

Now I realize that the last one is far fetched, but the other 2 are quite possible. With more and more of the US' military assets being stored on computers, there are more risks being made.

Really, if you can't imagine a single scenario in which the internet can be abused, you need to watch more movies.

 

[Brandon237]

One cyber-pres. having complete cyber-control of my interwebz...
...
...
...No

This is madness, at the press of one cyber-button he can end my whole cyber-parade...
...
...
...NO

I think I make myself clear enough, well, that's my 2 cyber-cents worth.

 

[Kuilui]

They've been proposing this garbage for a year now. Its just so Obama can sink his vile little hands into even more of our lives. Its not even because of this but this is the first president I've actually been afraid of to an extent. I don't trust this guy, not even a little. I knew when he was banging on about hope and change and all that other nonsense it was all garbage. Shocker I was right. Hope everyone here in America enjoys the massive tax hikes that are coming in 2011 because Obama didn't reinstate Bushes tax cuts.

 

[Vash108]

We must alert Al Gore and tell him his invention may be in danger!

 

[Mr. Grey]

I could have sworn Lieberman was an Independent Democrat. So wouldn't he be left wing? Or is that the problem? I haven't paid much attention with politics, they've increasingly made me jaded and depressed.

Both of the major political parties in the US are becoming more and more similar, so it doesn't much matter. The fact of the matter is, it's irrelevant which "side" it comes from. All the matters is that he's scaremongering in a fairly pathetic and transparent attempt to increase the power of the federal government. It's foolishness at it's finest, or worst as the case may be.

He certainly isn't making the incumbents look good, which is something he might want to do if he wants to keep his job.

 

[mrF00bar]

Oh my good lord. I can see it now, so we'll lose words in our language and they'll be able to listen to us threw our TVs. If anyone gets what I'm referencing I will be surprised.

I do, I forget what the book is called though.

It's definitely 1984. The giveaway is the loss of words in the language.

*Gives Cookie*

 

[Chris^^]

fair enough, i think thats quite a good idea

lolwut

i'm quite opposed to free speech without moderation

but more OT i think that if theres a danger of national security being compromised leaders should have the ability to do everything it takes to prevent such an occurence

 

[Agayek]

Any proof of that? If you don't have any proof, then i claim that the Internet was "techincally invented" by Russians.

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/internet.htm

The foundation was laid by the US in the early 70's with the ARPAnet, which connected several computers in several universities and research labs together. Over the next 10-15 years, there was a flurry of research into it, with several smaller scale "internets", until 1989 when an English researcher working for CERN created the World Wide Web.

I would argue that the US invented the internet, since the ARPAnet was paid for and built by American scientists, and its design is still the backbone of the 'net, but it's semantics at this point.

 

[Catalyst6]

The internet does not belong to the U.S government. It is not theres to shut down.

While this is true, the ISPs that run your connection to the internet has to listen to them.

Frankly, this is incredibly... dangerous. It's like if the government just decided to ban walking one day, society would practically collapse.

Frankly, it's kind of adorable how the government thinks that they stand half a chance against the hackers.

 

[firemark]

This coming from the same lovely government that almost considered passing a law that would make the value of Pi (3.14159...) equal to 3 because the concept was confusing to young children. (Granted this was a hundred years ago, but the point remains). The president received the Nobel Prize for saying he was going to do things, not what he had done, but for what he said he would do. Sadly, it might actually pass.

 

[xXAsherahXx]

What? Do they expect something from the plot of Die Hard 4? Don't turn off the interwebz, just think of ways to protect your secrets, or, don't put them on the f*cking computer, keep them in folders for Sam Fisher to steal.