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Obama Kill Switch

Obama Kill Switch - There is a bill before Congress that is loosely referred to as the Internet Kill Switch that was introduced by Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins. This gives the President the power to literally kill the Internet. Other similar bills by Jay Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe are also being pushed.

These are designed to give authority to the Executive Branch to shut down the Internet in the USA completely during any sort of National emergency or cyber attack.

Let's look at this idea more closely. You'll have to ask Collins, Lieberman, and the other supporters of these bills (there are lots) why exactly they want this. They aren't Internet experts trying to protect the Net from damage. They, to be frank, are clueless about the Internet.

The most specious reason for this mechanism is that if some evil worm or attack on the National infrastructure—a.k.a. "Cyberwar"—would be underway, the Internet would need to be shut down to prevent further damage to the country, which apparently can no longer function without the Net. This is kind of a weird tautology. The country can't function without the Net, so we need to secure the it, which includes having the ability to shut it down. But with the Net down, how can the country function?

Obama Kill Switch
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