Internet 'kill switch' proposed for US

[snowhite159]

Idk, If any of you know about the "kill switch". But I just searched that Obama wants to pass a law to disconnet the internet for "emergancy purposes" :evil: . Ummm.... what the heck?!?! OR could it be that more and more people are knowing about the illumanti and those things?? thanks to MJ , of course. Otherwise, people wouldn't have research them up! hmmmm. Something to think about.

[*Mo*]

Can you please post some links?  I'd appreciate that!

[change the world]

I have read this story too, and it is fresh on my mind, so I could retrieve the story quickly.  Here is the link:

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[TheRunningGirl]

This looks like yet another attempt to take power away from the people by controlling information going through the internet.
One would need to understand the detailed of the proposed bill but I agree this is a worrying sign!

[~Souza~]

Internet 'kill switch' proposed for US
By Declan McCullagh, CNET.com on June 15th, 2010 (5 days ago)

A new US Senate Bill would grant the President far-reaching emergency powers to seize control of, or even shut down, portions of the internet.

The legislation says that companies such as broadband providers, search engines or software firms that the US Government selects "shall immediately comply with any emergency measure or action developed" by the Department of Homeland Security. Anyone failing to comply would be fined.

That emergency authority would allow the Federal Government to "preserve those networks and assets and our country and protect our people," Joe Lieberman, the primary sponsor of the measure and the chairman of the Homeland Security committee, told reporters on Thursday. Lieberman is an independent senator from Connecticut who meets with the Democrats.

Due to there being few limits on the US President's emergency power, which can be renewed indefinitely, the densely worded 197-page Bill (PDF) is likely to encounter stiff opposition.

TechAmerica, probably the largest US technology lobby group, said it was concerned about "unintended consequences that would result from the legislation's regulatory approach" and "the potential for absolute power". And the Center for Democracy and Technology publicly worried that the Lieberman Bill's emergency powers "include authority to shut down or limit internet traffic on private systems."

The idea of an internet "kill switch" that the President could flip is not new. A draft Senate proposal that ZDNet Australia's sister site CNET obtained in August allowed the White House to "declare a cybersecurity emergency", and another from Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) would have explicitly given the government the power to "order the disconnection" of certain networks or websites.

On Thursday, both senators lauded Lieberman's Bill, which is formally titled Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, or PCNAA. Rockefeller said "I commend" the drafters of the PCNAA. Collins went further, signing up at a co-sponsor and saying at a press conference that "we cannot afford to wait for a cyber 9/11 before our government realises the importance of protecting our cyber resources".

Under PCNAA, the Federal Government's power to force private companies to comply with emergency decrees would become unusually broad. Any company on a list created by Homeland Security that also "relies on" the internet, the telephone system or any other component of the US "information infrastructure" would be subject to command by a new National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications (NCCC) that would be created inside Homeland Security.

The only obvious limitation on the NCCC's emergency power is one paragraph in the Lieberman Bill that appears to have grown out of the Bush-era flap over wiretapping without a warrant. That limitation says that the NCCC cannot order broadband providers or other companies to "conduct surveillance" of Americans unless it's otherwise legally authorised.

Lieberman said on Thursday that enactment of his Bill needed to be a top congressional priority. "For all of its 'user-friendly' allure, the internet can also be a dangerous place with electronic pipelines that run directly into everything from our personal bank accounts to key infrastructure to government and industrial secrets," he said. "Our economic security, national security and public safety are now all at risk from new kinds of enemies — cyber-warriors, cyber-spies, cyber-terrorists and cyber-criminals."

A new cybersecurity bureaucracy
Lieberman's proposal would form a powerful and extensive new Homeland Security bureaucracy around the NCCC, including "no less" than two deputy directors, and liaison officers to the Defense Department, Justice Department, Commerce Department, and the Director of National Intelligence. (How much the NCCC director's duties would overlap with those of the existing assistant secretary for infrastructure protection is not clear.)

The NCCC also would be granted the power to monitor the "security status" of private sector websites, broadband providers and other internet components. Lieberman's legislation requires the NCCC to provide "situational awareness of the security status" of the portions of the internet that are inside the United States — and also those portions in other countries that, if disrupted, could cause significant harm.

Selected private companies would be required to participate in "information sharing" with the Feds. They must "certify in writing to the director" of the NCCC whether they have "developed and implemented" federally approved security measures, which could be anything from encryption to physical security mechanisms, or programming techniques that have been "approved by the director". The NCCC director can "issue an order" in cases of non-compliance.

The prospect of a vast new cybersecurity bureaucracy with power to command the private sector worries some privacy advocates. "This is a plan for an auto-immune reaction," says Jim Harper, director of information studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. "When something goes wrong, the government will attack our infrastructure and make society weaker."

To sweeten the deal for industry groups, Lieberman has included a tantalising offer absent from earlier drafts: immunity from civil lawsuits. If a software company's programming error costs customers billions, or a broadband provider intentionally cuts off its customers in response to a federal command, neither would be liable.

If there's an "incident related to a cyber vulnerability" after the President has declared an emergency and the affected company has followed federal standards, plaintiffs' lawyers cannot collect damages for economic harm. And if the harm is caused by an emergency order from the Feds, not only does the possibility of damages virtually disappear, but the US Treasury will even pick up the private company's tab.

Another sweetener: a new White House office would be charged with forcing federal agencies to take cybersecurity more seriously, with the power to jeopardise their budgets if they fail to comply. The likely effect would be to increase government agencies' demand for security products.

Tom Gann, McAfee's vice president for government relations, stopped short of criticising the Lieberman Bill, calling it a "very important piece of legislation".

McAfee is paying attention to "a number of provisions of the Bill that could use work," Gann said, and "we've certainly put some focus on the emergency provisions."

Via CNET

[hesouttamylife]

If this includes some kind of shut down of the internet to the public in the event of national or global disaster, then my response is I'm sorry but hell to the naw.  I don't have one iota of confidence that the government's main interest here is to save the people.  I would feel better having public access and researching on how to save myself.  I hope this does not pass.  Think Katrina.  Those people were cut off from the world and left to fiend for themselves.  No sirree.  I don't trust that one bit.  If anything, we'll be left out of the know while they discriminately decide who's worth saving.  Something tells me that my name and address is not on that list :shock:

[Hazzely]

Now even our Youtube information is being controlled. They know everything about us.."for crime investigation"

Google, YouTube received 10,000 government requests for user data

3,580 data requests originated from U.S. agencies
By Jon Brodkin, Network World
April 20, 2010 04:09 PM ET
 
Google and the Google-owned YouTube received more than 10,000 requests for user data from government agencies in the six months ending Dec. 31, 2009, according to newly released data.

"Like other technology and communications companies, we regularly receive requests from government agencies around the world to remove content from our services, or provide information about users of our services and products," Google says on a new site that sheds more light onto government demands for user information and requests to take offensive material off the Web.

Google Buzz's Privacy Tweaks: Good Start, Not Enough

The vast majority of requests for private user data "are valid and the information needed is for legitimate criminal investigations." Likewise, many requests to remove videos and other content are valid, for example requests to nix child pornography, Google notes.

"However, data about these activities historically has not been broadly available," Google said in its blog Tuesday. "We believe that greater transparency will lead to less censorship."

Between July 1 and Dec. 31, Google received 3,580 requests for user data from U.S. government agencies, slightly less than the 3,663 originating from Brazil. The United Kingdom and India sent more than 1,000 requests each, and smaller numbers originated from various other countries.

Brazil also sent the most requests to remove content, at 291. Germany was second with 188 such requests, followed by India with 142 and the United States with 123. Google fully or partially complied with 80% of content removal requests in the United States.

The numbers are imperfect, because a single request could consist of multiple users' data or removal of multiple URLs. There could also be multiple requests for the same data or to remove the same content.

So far, Google is not saying how often it complies with government requests for user data, but said it plans to in the future.

"We would like to be able to share more information, including how many times we disclosed data in response to these requests, but it's not an easy matter," Google says. "The requests we receive for user data come from a variety of government agencies with different legal authorities and different forms of requests. Given all this complexity, we haven't figured out yet how to categorize and quantify these requests in a way that adds meaningful transparency, but we plan to in the future."

In related news on Tuesday, Google was sent an open letter by government regulators from several countries demanding that the company respect national laws on user privacy.

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[hesouttamylife]

:shock: They know that we know what we were never meant to know.  Thanks MICHAEL  for enlightening us and making us seek out the truth.

[katson45]

Interesting,since it is, in fact, the very vehicle he used to promote his own election campaign ! Something smells fishy (and it's not the dead wildlife in the gulf)...

[~Souza~]

Interesting,since it is, in fact, the very vehicle he used to promote his own election campaign ! Something smells fishy (and it's not the dead wildlife in the gulf)...

I absolutely and fully agree.

[mjgirl86]

I posted about this on my myspace, and a lot of people are angry and feel this is going TOO FAR.

[jill]

I cannot wait until we can vote this congress and administration out of office!!!!

[change the world]

What this story tells me is that they are getting scared of the masses.  After all, look how we all are getting informed about MJ and the NWO...through the very Internet they want to kill.  Please forgive me if this video has been posted already, but here is a video from a CFR meeting last month: Zbigniew Brzezinski Fears The Global Awakening.  Very enlightening indeed!  



 [youtube:tcltfmfk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDBlABD01U0[/youtube:tcltfmfk]

[cin_pyt]

I don't vote and I just knew this "change" crap was oh yeah heck yeah were gonna get change alright look how it is things are getting worse! :evil: I mean we're already controlled enough what else is there? @ Mjgirl I love your picture/signature I love how the man looks in those pictures.

[WendyE]

I really am thankful for all of you here that post things like this. I had heard about this before on Glenn Beck. I am sorry but this congress and president have gone to far. I knew about his social agenda before he was voted in. I did vote but they were already announcing his win right after I voted! Yeah, that was a weird one. No one man/party should have this kind of power. I pray that good people stand against this white house and it's total disregard for the constitution. We are being sold out and shut down right under our noses. They now control our banks, housing, health care, education, and now our very basic freedoms. Freedom of speech. I pray for all of us here in this forum because we understand and know the truth (thanks to Michael) and I pray for those that have not a clue about what is happening and about to happen. All I can say is...God Speed Michael, God Speed.