Joe Lieberman
American Internet users and civil libertarians are concerned that sinister motives lurk behind a new bill that would grant the president the ability to turn off the Internet in times of crisis such as a war.
The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act (PCNAA) was introduced two weeks ago by Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Tom Carper (D-DE). The bill would also create a cadre of cybersecurity agencies and order strategy planning with private firms. The legislation is supported by anti-virus giant Symantec.
The entire 197-page bill can be downloaded in a PDF file here.
“Cyber war is going on in some sense right now,” Lieberman said on CNN’s State of The Union on June 20. The Internet that runs “our civilian infrastructure, the electric grid, the telecommunications grid, transportation, all the rest, is constantly being probed by nation states, terrorist groups, by organized criminal gangs.”
Not exactly the kill switch proposed
However, US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team) already exists under Dept. of Homeland Security and has many resources to stop cyberattacks.
In addition, an agency dubbed CYBERCOM, has already been set up within the Department of Defense. It is comprised of personnel from the National Security Agency, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and lawmakers, and is both a defense and an offense in that can engage in preemptive “strikes” intended to disrupt threats.
Lieberman notes his bill would cut access to America from specific foreign countries in the case of an extreme emergency, such as a war.
Some argue that is the real motive behind the legislation – to block access to the American Internet simply because information is coming from a certain country.
Iceland recently passed a so-called “Wikileaks Law” that creates a safe haven for journalists being persecuted elsewhere. The Wikileaks website has been noted for releasing videos that puts the American military in a negative light. Theoretically, some say, Internet traffic from Iceland to America could be blocked during a time of war simply because information coming from Iceland may contradict or counteract pro-war propaganda being fed to the American public.
“Do you honestly trust this president of the United States [Barack Obama] or, for that matter, any president of the United States with that kind of censorship power?,” asks WND‘s Joseph Farrah.
Officials with Judicial Watch, a government-watchdog group that investigates and prosecutes government misbehavior, said the plan simply is “keeping with the big-government script” of the Obama administration.
“Regulation of the Internet would not only represent a massive assault on free speech, it would also create new roadblocks for e-commerce and as a consequence further devastate the economy,” writes Paul Joseph Watson of Infowars.com. “The Lieberman bill needs to be met with fierce opposition at every level and from across the political spectrum.”
Others, such as technology lobbying group TechAmerica, warn the bill makes “the potential for absolute power,” while the Center for Democracy and Technology worried that emergency powers in the legislation “include authority to shut down or limit internet traffic on private systems.”
Lieberman insists his legislation is not about taking control of the Internet. “The government should never take over the Internet,” he said. “This is a matter of national security. A cyberattack on America can do as much damage today by incapacitating our [infrastructure] as a conventional war attack. ”
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We no longer live in an America in which we can trust our leaders. We used to trust them to run law enforcement, military, and disaster preparedness, but now they seem more interested in their political careers than in the fate of the nation.
We should have a similar switch for political a-holes.
Just in time for a war with Iran? Which other countries does Joe expect us to be at war with and have to block.
There is no such thing as America anymore, we are slowly losing every right we once had.
I don’t believe the wikileaks issue is behind this. I think it’s just one of many methods to control us. There is no “conspiracy theory” anymore – it’s conspiracy fact! There is not going to be any kind of cyber event that would necessitate this type of bill!
We are already at “war” in Afghanistan and Iraq. Conceivably, the switch could be thrown almost immediately if the homeland “terror threat” goes on high alert.
People, we need to put every one of these jerks out of a job in November!
were going to be a communist country if this keeps going like this. Then, I’ll move to Europe.
Here we go again. The creeps can’t seem to do much with cap and trade, so they have to make war a reason to take away our right to communicate or receive wikileaks. Another nail in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
I am not an expert, but I know enough about the internet to know that we are being cyber attacked on a daily basis, otherwise why would we need to install antivirus and anti-spyware on our computers. They must think we are idiots. I really doubt if Lieberman owns a computer. What does he think, that someone is going to inject a cannon through the internet?
Ever see the movie Enemy of The State? Fact is that our government again has screwed us… They say that history means everything to our future. It’s true. IN history we have learned that people have fought died and lived for our freedoms. Migrants came here for safety in our walls. Your family was an immigrant. My family was to all of our families were. Man came to this land in hopes of making a life. George Washington and the ones who signed that piece of paper called THE CONSTITUTEION OF THE UNITED STATES I’m sure they were not signing it for what we have now. There is no freedom, there is no life, and there is nothing to do but sit back and defend ourselves. The government won’t. I believe that if we want change, if we want safety, if we want, anything, we need to open our eyes and realize that our government is a damn lie. Why has a president if he/she has no power? IT IS TIME FOR THE NATION TO BAND TOGETHER. We should be ashamed of who we have become. Our world is in jeopardy. But no one seems to care really. They talk but do nothing. I can’t wait for the day that it is all over cause this world is none that I am to fine of being in.