Obama may get power to shut down internet for 4 months ??

Discussion in 'Politics' started by hippie, Jun 30, 2010.

  1. President Obama will be handed the power to shut down the Internet for at least four months without Congressional oversight if the Senate votes for the infamous Internet ‘kill switch’ bill, which was approved by a key Senate committee yesterday and now moves to the floor.

    The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, which is being pushed hard by Senator Joe Lieberman, would hand absolute power to the federal government to close down networks, and block incoming Internet traffic from certain countries under a declared national emergency.

    Despite the Center for Democracy and Technology and 23 other privacy and technology organizations sending letters to Lieberman and other backers of the bill expressing concerns that the legislation could be used to stifle free speech, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed in the bill in advance of a vote on the Senate floor.

    In response to widespread criticism of the bill, language was added that would force the government to seek congressional approval to extend emergency measures beyond 120 days. Still, this would hand Obama the authority to shut down the Internet on a whim without Congressional oversight or approval for a period of no less than four months.

    The Senators pushing the bill rejected the claim that the bill was a ‘kill switch’ for the Internet, not by denying that Obama would be given the authority to shut down the Internet as part of this legislation, but by arguing that he already had the power to do so.

    They argued “That the President already had authority under the Communications Act to “cause the closing of any facility or station for wire communication” when there is a “state or threat of war”, .....................

    http://www.prisonplanet.com/obama-c...-for-4-months-under-new-emergency-powers.html
     
  2. The Executive Branch already has too much power... contrary to the intentions of the "Checks and Balances" spirit of the Constitution.

    The power of the President to take action via Executive Order should be repealed.
     
  3. BSAM

    BSAM

    Naw...

    What we need is a whole new constitution which includes term limits and tax reform.

    We, the people, are under siege by a terrorist government. They have us surrounded and we are under attack (of one sort or another), whether most zombie-minded Americans realize it or not.

    They have completely looted our local, state, and national treasuries; now their solution is merely to steal more money from the American citizens to cover for their corruption, while they get ready for their next campaign.

    Only a new constitution will throw these thugs and blow-hards out of our government buildings.

    If people will only demand accountability for these thugs and stop voting for these same old has beens, there could be some hope. But, it looks pretty dim.

    Hey, controlling the internet would be a great way for them to control the markets, right? If things start going south the President could just hit the kill switch, no???:eek: :p :eek:
     
  4. Obama already has the power to shut down the internet using his red button.
     
  5. Reelect me and I promise I'll turn the internet back on for you.
     
  6. Uh...I didn't get that: my iphone aint working.
     
  7. So what happens to the stock market if the internet is shut down?
     
  8. Hello

    Hello

    I think people are reading to much into this. I think the real reason behind this is in the case of cyber attacks which attempt to shut down the electrical grid, or attacks on the pentagon which threaten national security, they want the ability to hit the kill switch from incoming countries/ hackers. There was a good piece the other day on 60 minutes which was downright scary from a guy (whose name i cant remember) about the serious threat facing us if other governments were to deploy hackers to shut everything we have down.

    Does anyone else remember the piece? i will post the video if anyone saw it. Guys name was Richard Clarke.
     
  9. It goes down and it will be Bush's fault.
     
  10. Hello

    Hello

    Sorry couldnt find one without commercials, watch this piece, and i think you will understand the need for a kill switch.

    <embed src="http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/player-dest.swf" flashvars="linkUrl=http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6578069n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel&releaseURL=http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/player-dest.swf&videoId=50088933&partner=news&vert=News&si=254&autoPlayVid=false&name=cbsPlayer&allowscriptaccess="never"&wmode="transparent"&embedded=y&scale=noscale&rv=n&salign=tl" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="415" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed> <div style="font-size:0.9em;">
    <a href="http://vodpod.com/watch/3831686-60-minutes-cyber-war">60 Minutes: Cyber War</a>
    - Watch more <a href="http://vodpod.com/entertainment">Entertainment Videos</a> at <a href="http://vodpod.com">Vodpod</a>.</div>
     
    #10     Jun 30, 2010