U.S. Government Proposes "Internet Kill Switch"

[jthm]

Man, I didn't realize I woke up in China this morning.

 

[Flight]

I doubt that will solve much, if anything.

 

[JelloKZ]

Canada, here I come.

 

[Furrama]

This will never go through, it would be too unpopular.

Keep an eye on it though.

 

[kingpocky]

Does anyone seriously think that this bill is some sort of government plot for power that was all agreed upon by the president and the rest of the senators? Because if you do then you are fucking stupid. This was just one crazy senator that everyone in our country hates in the first place. What if some representative in Britain pushed for a bill that orders everyone over two hundred pounds to go to a work camp? The blame wouldn't fall on the country, just the crazy assclown who proposed the bill.

Also, why do people cry about losing freedom when being able to propose such an absurd bill only shows how much freedom America gives and people take advantage of. Maybe most of you should have read the whole article and come up with something better than a kindergardeners interpretation of while the American government is full of shit.

I bet you are one of those people that thinks we are in iraq to fight the "terrorists" and find "osama bin laden" and not to make a bunch of white guys rich from oil and the sale of military supplies to the government.

I bet you also think it's ok that if you are labeled a "terrorist" by the government that they can hold you as long as they want, even without proof, and deny you a fair trial.

I could go on and on about how the government is taking away our freedoms legally because people with no brains did nothing, but I wont.

Bottom line is, the internet is a powerful tool that should not be allowed to have an off switch.

Wow, Digitaldreamer. I think you're actually being serious, which is funny, because I doubt I could write something that looked more like trolling if I tried as hard as I could. The guy said nothing that has anything to do with Iraq or terrorism by any stretch of the imagination, and yet you come up with this shit out of thin air? It'd be like if in the middle of a perfectly rational discussion on healthcare, I suddenly shouted "YOU MUST BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO THINKS THAT MURDERERS SHOULD BE SET FREE IF THEY SAY THEY'RE SORRY." I even agree with the last thing you said, and from the quote, it doesn't even appear that TheTurtleMan disagrees with the assessment that the internet should not be allowed to have an off switch. All he said was that the idea was the responsibility of one guy, not the entire government.

 

[Chainsaws_of_War_2]

Now that's what I call a load of cyber-bullshit.

 

[tehroc]

OT: Is this just for the US? Cus I'm questioning why they would have any right to turn off British internet, considering A) They HAVE no right and B) We technically invented it

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

OT: the US government won't approve of that bill, for many many many reasons. They may be stupid, but they're not that stupid. It may sound odd, but even stupidity has it's limits.

On 6 August 1991, CERN, a pan European organization for particle research, publicized the new World Wide Web project. The Web was invented by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. An early popular web browser was ViolaWWW, patterned after HyperCard and built using the X Window System. It was eventually replaced in popularity by the Mosaic web browser. In 1993, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois released version 1.0 of Mosaic, and by late 1994 there was growing public interest in the previously academic, technical Internet. By 1996 usage of the word Internet had become commonplace, and consequently, so had its use as a synecdoche in reference to the World Wide Web.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arpanet

ARPAnet is the origins of the internet, designed for the US military. The project started in the 1960s.

 

[DeleteMe1112311]

I'll take my freedom and the possibility of the internet being used for something dangerous over giving the government the power to completely shut off the main source of information any day. and I'm a fucking liberal democrat by most definitions. The government just can't be allowed to have power like that - look how corrupted it already is with what it has.

 

[tehroc]

Ladies and gentlemen: the Democratic Party.
Having to pick between these guys and the Republicans is the true cost of freedom.

Dude no one considers Lieberman to be a Democrat. He's a corporatist through and through.

 

[Gamegodtre]

time to put lieberman into the home

A nice white room with pillows on the walls.

Or a basement in Iraq's Kandahar provence, I don't care which.

meant old folks home

 

[Tdc2182]

I am proud to say I am one of the only people who gets to say this is a good idea. Whats more important, Getting into and destroying our national economy, or keeping in tough with your Facebook friends?

 

[AngryBritishAce]

Hah, another reason I'm proud to be British!

But it is insane, it's like something Kevin Rudd would do

 

[Darmort]

===+I Am cYbEr tErrOrIst. YOU wIll gIvE Up And tUrn YOUr IntErnEt Off nOw bEcAUsE I Am hAckIng IntO YOUr bAnks. crIpplE wOrld EcOnOmY And cAUsE hAvOk On A wOrldwIdE scAlE. hA-hA-hA!+===

If this comes to pass, America, don't say I didn't warn you.

This is nearly as bad as the proposed Internet Big Brother for the UK... V_V

 

[Atmos Duality]

I am proud to say I am one of the only people who gets to say this is a good idea. Whats more important, Getting into and destroying our national economy, or keeping in tough with your Facebook friends?

Yes. Flipping the information superhighway off is a perfect way to protect the economy...
...By causing virtually every business to close its doors for a day, if not longer.

"Help fight domestic terrorism by creating it!"
That'll learn them Cyber-Terrorists.

 

[oktalist]

A kill switch would be so much more dangerous to national security than the dangers it is ostensibly intended to protect against.

 

[Wedlock49]

the internet isn't something that america owns, this couldn't possibly happen... though they could force this on companies holding servers in the states... which would damage buisness... and cause a lot of people to go bankrupt

 

[alliedlama]

giving anyone this kind of power over something as big as the internet is a terrible idea. this is just like having a button to launch nukes, except maybe a little less destructive- anyway, the same argument applies, giving such a large and powerful government, or any body in a position of power, more power gives them the possibility to misuse it! WE GOTTA TAKE THE POWER BACK!!!!

 

[DeleteMe1112311]

I am proud to say I am one of the only people who gets to say this is a good idea. Whats more important, Getting into and destroying our national economy, or keeping in tough with your Facebook friends?

Yes. Flipping the information superhighway off is a perfect way to protect the economy...
...By causing virtually every business to close its doors for a day, if not longer.

"Help fight domestic terrorism by creating it!"
That'll learn them Cyber-Terrorists.

Have you watched Doctor Who? This is going to be the virtual Ostehagen key.

Basically, in DW, aliens have taken over the world. The Ostehagen key is where the suffering of the planet becomes too great to bear, and it must be destroyed to end the suffering.

This internet switch-off button is like that - only used in cases of extreme emergencies. It disturbs me greatly that people think that it would be used at the bat of an eyelash.

I'll take my freedom and the possibility of the internet being used for something dangerous over giving the government the power to completely shut off the main source of information any day. and I'm a fucking liberal democrat by most definitions. The government just can't be allowed to have power like that - look how corrupted it already is with what it has.

Like Exhibit A here.

I failed to realize that our government was run by Jesus Christ, my mistake!

What I think you fail to see is that the government has access to that button whenever it wants it in that case. It might be "for emergencies only" but manufacturing an emergency which would warrant the button's use would be very easy (I say at risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I know). I personally don't trust anyone with that kind of power - the more power someone has, the more likely they are to abuse it and the easier it gets for them to do so.

Second, the switch creates its own weak spot. All someone would have to do is engineer a situation which lead the U.S to use the button and they've successfully shut-down a major facet of American life. Isn't the whole point of fighting against terror not giving up those things important to you?

Which brings me to my third point. The kill-switch is hypocritical. I can understand wanting to fight terror and not give up your freedoms but what this does is allow the government to shut down the internet for anything it deems an emergency. In allowing this to happen, we give up our freedom to access information and allow the goverment a significantly higher level of control.

I hope you'll forgive me if I seem harsh throughout this rant, I don't enjoy being referred to as an exhibit like an animal on display. Especially coming from someone who can so easily judge others - your opinion is just as valid as my own and I do attempt to respect the opinions of others while stating problems that I have. I just wish you would do the same.