The federal government would have “absolute power” to shut down the
Internet under the terms of a new US Senate bill being pushed by Joe
Lieberman, legislation which would hand President Obama a figurative
“kill switch” to seize control of the world wide web in response to a
Homeland Security directive.
Lieberman has been pushing for government regulation of the Internet
for years under the guise of cybersecurity, but this new bill goes
even further in handing emergency powers over to the feds which could
be used to silence free speech under the pretext of a national
emergency.
“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,” reports
ZDNet’s Declan McCullagh.
The 197-page bill (PDF)
is entitled Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, or PCNAA.
Technology lobbying group TechAmerica warned that the legislation
created “the potential for absolute power,” while the Center for
Democracy and Technology worried that the bill’s emergency powers
“include authority to shut down or limit internet traffic on private
systems.”
The bill has the vehement support of Senator Jay Rockefeller, who last year asked
during a congressional hearing, “Would it had been better if we’d
have never invented the Internet?” while fearmongering about
cyber-terrorists preparing attacks.
The largest Internet-based corporations are seemingly happy with the
bill, primarily because it contains language that will give them
immunity from civil lawsuits and also reimburse them for any costs
incurred if the Internet is shut down for a period of time.
