Whitehouse.gov wants to take away your internetz

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Bill would give president emergency control of Internet

Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.

They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.

The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.

"I think the redraft, while improved, remains troubling due to its vagueness," said Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, which counts representatives of Verizon, Verisign, Nortel, and Carnegie Mellon University on its board. "It is unclear what authority Sen. Rockefeller thinks is necessary over the private sector. Unless this is clarified, we cannot properly analyze, let alone support the bill."

Representatives of other large Internet and telecommunications companies expressed concerns about the bill in a teleconference with Rockefeller's aides this week, but were not immediately available for interviews on Thursday.

A spokesman for Rockefeller also declined to comment on the record Thursday, saying that many people were unavailable because of the summer recess. A Senate source familiar with the bill compared the president's power to take control of portions of the Internet to what President Bush did when grounding all aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001. The source said that one primary concern was the electrical grid, and what would happen if it were attacked from a broadband connection.

When Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce committee, and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced the original bill in April, they claimed it was vital to protect national cybersecurity. "We must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs--from our water to our electricity, to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records," Rockefeller said.

The Rockefeller proposal plays out against a broader concern in Washington, D.C., about the government's role in cybersecurity. In May, President Obama acknowledged that the government is "not as prepared" as it should be to respond to disruptions and announced that a new cybersecurity coordinator position would be created inside the White House staff. Three months later, that post remains empty, one top cybersecurity aide has quit, and some wags have begun to wonder why a government that receives failing marks on cybersecurity should be trusted to instruct the private sector what to do.

Rockefeller's revised legislation seeks to reshuffle the way the federal government addresses the topic. It requires a "cybersecurity workforce plan" from every federal agency, a "dashboard" pilot project, measurements of hiring effectiveness, and the implementation of a "comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy" in six months--even though its mandatory legal review will take a year to complete.

The privacy implications of sweeping changes implemented before the legal review is finished worry Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. "As soon as you're saying that the federal government is going to be exercising this kind of power over private networks, it's going to be a really big issue," he says.

Probably the most controversial language begins in Section 201, which permits the president to "direct the national response to the cyber threat" if necessary for "the national defense and security." The White House is supposed to engage in "periodic mapping" of private networks deemed to be critical, and those companies "shall share" requested information with the federal government. ("Cyber" is defined as anything having to do with the Internet, telecommunications, computers, or computer networks.)

"The language has changed but it doesn't contain any real additional limits," EFF's Tien says. "It simply switches the more direct and obvious language they had originally to the more ambiguous (version)...The designation of what is a critical infrastructure system or network as far as I can tell has no specific process. There's no provision for any administrative process or review. That's where the problems seem to start. And then you have the amorphous powers that go along with it."

Translation: If your company is deemed "critical," a new set of regulations kick in involving who you can hire, what information you must disclose, and when the government would exercise control over your computers or network.

The Internet Security Alliance's Clinton adds that his group is "supportive of increased federal involvement to enhance cyber security, but we believe that the wrong approach, as embodied in this bill as introduced, will be counterproductive both from an national economic and national secuity perspective."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10320096-38.html

[Peikko 1,575]

If that's saying what I think it's saying, even for above board reasons it's a bad idea.

[Ban Hammer 13,342]

seen this before.

eta: and i was right!

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=189855

and even the op of this story replied in that thread!

Replying to Bill Allows Obama Power to Shut Down Internet

Edited August 28, 2009 by charles!

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

seen this before.

eta: and i was right!

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=189855

and even the op of this story replied in that thread!

Replying to Bill Allows Obama Power to Shut Down Internet

New bill. S.O.S.

[Ban Hammer 13,342]

seen this before.

eta: and i was right!

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=189855

and even the op of this story replied in that thread!

Replying to Bill Allows Obama Power to Shut Down Internet

New bill. S.O.S.

does mrs bullwinkle know this?

[scandal 951]

Title of thread: "Whitehouse.gov wants to take away your internetz"

From the first line of the article: "a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet."

Since when is the US Senate the same thing as Whitehouse.gov ?

[natty bumppo 297]

Title of thread: "Whitehouse.gov wants to take away your internetz"

From the first line of the article: "a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet."

Since when is the US Senate the same thing as Whitehouse.gov ?

who has the final say if the bill is passed?

[Peikko 1,575]

Bill likes to be a little controversial

[Ban Hammer 13,342]

Bill likes to be a little controversial

yeah, i remember the crackers in bed fight......

[Otto 83]

Anticlimactic topic title...

[Old Dominion 26]

Last I knew, our Department of Defense owned the internet anyway. We only pay some company for access to it.

[alienlovechild 75]

Last I knew, our Department of Defense owned the internet anyway. We only pay some company for access to it.

]

There's no Skynet, John Connor.

[MNCouple 3]

Last I knew, our Department of Defense owned the internet anyway. We only pay some company for access to it.

]

There's no Skynet, John Connor.

hahahahhahahhaha

[zqt3344 21]

And this is coming from that same Democratic Congress that is wanting Bush and Cheney head on a pike for illegal wiretaps or freaking waterboarding terrorists? And this coming from Mr CHANGE himself, frightening, the level of underhanded behind the scenes power grabs Obama makes and then all you supporters of his sit back muted. Where are you, had this happened under Bush and Cheney you would all set a record posting to this. Sad but true.

[Otto 83]

And this is coming from that same Democratic Congress that is wanting Bush and Cheney head on a pike for illegal wiretaps or freaking waterboarding terrorists? And this coming from Mr CHANGE himself, frightening, the level of underhanded behind the scenes power grabs Obama makes and then all you supporters of his sit back muted. Where are you, had this happened under Bush and Cheney you would all set a record posting to this. Sad but true.

What's sad is, this did start back in the Bush days but some people would rather not see it that way...

spin...spin...spin...like a Whirling Dervishes