Emergency Government Control of the Internet? 853
TheZid writes "A newly proposed bill would give Uncle Sam the power to disconnect private sector computers from the internet in the event of a 'cyber security emergency.' As usual, our government is trying to take away our privacy by citing security. What actually counts as a 'Cyber-Security Emergency?' Does the president now have the option of disconnecting people when they disagree with his policies? How about disconnecting bloggers that criticize his health care reform? What counts as an emergency? Can political opponents be deemed a cyber-security emergency?"
Re:Backwards (Score:5, Funny)
I call it the 1337th Ammendment.
Summary (Score:5, Funny)
Does the president now have the option of disconnecting people when they disagree with his policies? Disconnect bloggers that criticize his health-reform? What counts as an emergency, can political opponents be deemed a cyber security emergency?"
Jesus christ man, leave something for the comments!
Presidential Ban Button (Score:5, Funny)
Does the president now have the option of disconnecting people when they disagree with his policies?
Perhaps he could have a big red button on his desk labelled "BAN", and could amuse himself by disconnecting people that make fun of him? The summary seems a little alarmist...
Re:Summary (Score:5, Funny)
Re:One more nail in the coffin.... (Score:1, Funny)
UN must control root DNS servers (Score:4, Funny)
Re:don't underestimate our politicitian (Score:4, Funny)
Surely you appreciate that the only thing keeping Ron Paul and the libertarians from taking over and fixing the country's problems is that The Man spies on every red-blooded American citizen and silences their political dissent by sending them off to Guantanamo.
With Gitmo being closed, The Man needs another means of keeping silent the influential bloggers that could otherwise oust them from power.
What's surprising is that Big Brother actually let information about this new plan slip out to the sheeple, rather than keeping it under wraps (just like Area 51 and Apollo).
Re:Backwards (Score:5, Funny)
It sounds like they'd only shut off their access to the outside world in the hopes to cut off cyberthreats like North Korean hackers trying to access nukes.
LoL. Well I live in Canada. The US Government can do whatever they want with their internets. It'll suck because the Halo servers will be down, along with Steam, WoW, Battlefield... ... ... ...
*sigh*
Oh shit, they can take away my porn? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Let's not over-react. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The eternal September 11 (Score:4, Funny)
Dems already call people who disagree with the healthcare reform plan terrorists
False. Shutting down town hall meetings != disagreeing with the healthcare reform plan.
It's still hyperbole to call them "terrorists", but don't pretend the people Congressman Hill was referring to were merely expressing an opposing viewpoint -- their mission is to stifle debate and intimidate their opponents, just like the folks who've been brandishing guns outside the events.
Re:It's times like these... (Score:3, Funny)
Don't be absurd, it's completely within the realm of possibility to take those twelve pixels, enlarge them, and get a clear picture of a face. I saw it in the movies.
Re:It's times like these... (Score:5, Funny)
Judging from the appearance of some criminals, it doesn't seem likely that's always the camera's fault.
Re:Fooled again? (Score:2, Funny)
Because we all know that GWB = Evil and BHO is just misguided but good hearted.
No, no, Browser Helper Objects are entirely evil!
Texas (Score:0, Funny)
I can't wait till my state Texas succeeds from the union.
Nor can most of the rest of the population of the US.
Re:Backwards (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Backwards (Score:4, Funny)
I'd say about 2000 years ago, but that just wound up pissing off a bunch of Romans.
Besides rearranging the deck chairs (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah. While the ship is going down, we can always count on Ron Paul to audit the ship's manifest. Someone might have stolen some cargo, after all.
Re:Backwards (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Backwards (Score:3, Funny)
Hey! I went to school in Oklahoma, you insensitive cloud!
Re:Hands off! (Score:3, Funny)
Leave that up to the private sector. The private sector can react faster to an event than the government with all of it's bureaucratic mess.