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The passage of the Lieberman's Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, essentially gives the POTUS the power to shut down the internet here in the U.S. if it is discovered that the U.S. is under cyber attack. As a result, a special office in the white house has been set up to enable enforcement of the bill.
Now, I'm against cyber attack on the U.S. defense and financial interest, but I worry indeed about the potential for abuse this bill might allow. After all, do you trust Obama to use this power ONLY for the defense of the U.S. against cyber attack?
As we have seen in Egypt, shutting down internet and cell phone service was a matter of a few phone calls. The companies which control these communications pointed to an Egyptian law which gave the government the power to do this.
I did some minor research on this issue and out of 8 articles I read (some from the far left) only 1 said it would be difficult. Most points out that knowing special IP numbers would essentially shut it down. Some pointed out to the limited number of cables which could be disrupted easily by government officials.
I asked myself, "what if the internet and cell service went down right now". I also wonder how news organizations on TV would get their information? Would we know what was happening? Or would the news organizations also be in the dark (or under control).
This is a serious issue. Without good information, it would very difficult to make decisions. Would land lines still work? How would you contact you family or your BO partners? Do you have a plan for this? If you don't know what's happening, decision making would be very difficult.
We need to ponder this carefully.
Now, I'm against cyber attack on the U.S. defense and financial interest, but I worry indeed about the potential for abuse this bill might allow. After all, do you trust Obama to use this power ONLY for the defense of the U.S. against cyber attack?
As we have seen in Egypt, shutting down internet and cell phone service was a matter of a few phone calls. The companies which control these communications pointed to an Egyptian law which gave the government the power to do this.
I did some minor research on this issue and out of 8 articles I read (some from the far left) only 1 said it would be difficult. Most points out that knowing special IP numbers would essentially shut it down. Some pointed out to the limited number of cables which could be disrupted easily by government officials.
I asked myself, "what if the internet and cell service went down right now". I also wonder how news organizations on TV would get their information? Would we know what was happening? Or would the news organizations also be in the dark (or under control).
This is a serious issue. Without good information, it would very difficult to make decisions. Would land lines still work? How would you contact you family or your BO partners? Do you have a plan for this? If you don't know what's happening, decision making would be very difficult.
We need to ponder this carefully.
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