President to be given power to shut off internet

[johnwilliamson062]

http://www.prisonplanet.com/new-bill...-internet.html

Why not do the same to radio, television, or print?
Emergency stop power for pen and pencil sales?


How long can it be shut down?
ISPs are loving this because they are getting all kinds of immunity out of the deal.

[kodiakbeer]

November is coming... Thank God!

[mas12990]

mind rot

[snevel]

This bill hasn't even been assigned a number yet. I found a copy on senate.gov

I figure it's got quite a ways to go before any action can be taken on it.

Simeon

[OhReally?]

about 80% of whatever you read from Prison Planet is complete BS.

[noyes]

They pretty much have done the same thing with the stock market........ circuit breakers

[rjrivero]

I mean, since former Vice President Al Gore invented the internet, it only makes sense that the President should be able to turn it off......Right

[kodiakbeer]

The Washington times and other sources are also talking about this bill.

They are also pushing a tax on right wing websites, popularly called the "Drudge Tax", with the money to be redistributed to the friendlier left wing print media.

[pnac]

about 80% of whatever you read from Prison Planet is complete BS.

Want to back that assertion up with some evidence?

[markj]

Want to back that assertion up with some evidence?

Does he really need to? Shut off the internet

Just more fear tactics for the masses to fret over.

I dont read extreme right or left wing stuff. They got it all skewed and I dont go for mis information, she isnt one I date....

[pnac]

Does he really need to? Shut off the internet

Just more fear tactics for the masses to fret over.

I dont read extreme right or left wing stuff. They got it all skewed and I dont go for mis information, she isnt one I date....

If it's that simple, it ought to be easy to prove false. Right?

[johnwilliamson062]

Does he really need to? Shut off the internet

So, you don't think it is possible for the US government to shutoff the internet?

I hate to break it to you, but the US government VERY tightly controls the infrastructure on which the internet runs. They can shut it down as easily as they can shut down GPS.

This is scary b/c it is similar to the foreign firearms import bans. They gave the domestic suppliers so many perks out of the deal(immunity from litigation in this case) that they will be on board. When the .gov LEOs AND the domestic industry reps BOTH get on board something like this it is easy to pass.

[BGutzman]

Its seems to me that our government sure wants to control a whole lot of things now days.... Give up all freedom in the name of protection, right! We are on a slippery slope my friends.

Most Americans know much more about there local and state sports than what laws are being passed in our names.....

Games won or lost on a stadium field probably wont change your life... The crap they have been passing in DC will.

We all bear responsibility to know what is being done in our names.

[SigP6Carry]

This is simple fear mongering. And I know mods will be killing this thread and deleting it shortly.

[Mr Dish]

Actually, I believe what Al Gore was "trying" to say was that he was very much involved with approving the "funding" of the original version of the internet. Our politicians sometimes get alittle carried away with their experiences as we all know. It was originally designed for military and government use to improve their inter-communications. So....I believe that there would be a way for the government to effectively shut down or at least assert more control over its usage. Other contries not only have the ability, but actually do strongly restrict its access within their borders.

Well, thats my 2 cents worth anyway.

[BGutzman]

This is simple fear mongering. And I know mods will be killing this thread and deleting it shortly.

Do a little research my friend and you will find a lot of truth contrary to your opinion, all of it may not be germaine to this website or this posting.

Many good nations in history had laws that prohibited bad things and yet horrible crimes against people have occured in the names of various governments around the world; Stalin, Mao and others.

All I am stating is it is a slippery slope and we have a responsibility to know what laws are being passed in our names. We have a responsibility as citizens to have a informed opinion, it is a duty we owe to ourselves our families and our country.

Nothing is wrong with sports, I simply used it to illustrate a point.

[Al Norris]

Do I need to say that I really, really dislike conspiracy theories?

When I see an article that has been published on Drudge, WND or PrisonPlanet, I have a very hard time simply killing the thread without any explanation whatsoever.

But I try to be reasonable. So....

I hope I see a link to the supposed legislation. Real quick.

[snevel]

I hope I see a link to the supposed legislation. Real quick.

Here's a one page summary:

http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index...8-7dd0139fa20f

and the full text:

http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index...a-04b7f4cb0123

As you can see this is from senate.gov.

As I mentioned above, the bill doesn't have a number yet and I haven't been able to find any way of tracking it's progress.

Simeon

P.S. I in the process of reading all 197 pages to see what it actually says.s

[pnac]

Here ya go, Anti! Quick enough?
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-773

[snevel]

pnac sez:

Here ya go, Anti! Quick enough?
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-773

This is not the bill being referred to in the prisonplanet article.

Simeon

[Tom Servo]

OMGOMGOMG, they're gonna take alla my p0rnz! Alex JONES said so!

Good lord.

We've got a draft of a bill, which hasn't even received a number yet. Furthermore, this looks suspiciously like last year's S. 773.

And how well did S. 773 do? Lookathat...it's been more than a year since that passed, and it's got four, count 'em, four co-sponsors. We call that "dead in the water."

Seriously people. This is like the constant recurrences of HR 45 all over again.

[BGutzman]

Why does the government need to have this potential power? The potential for abuse is staggering... I see this as a potential attack on the first ammendment.

Imagine a hypothetical similar situation with firearms in a given area being able to be banned on government demand for some "Emergency purpose" or "in the Interest of National Security"

Just as importantly why do we keep seeing this type of thinking coming from our representatives in DC? First it was health care, now business and next maybe the internet? Do you see a concerning trend, I do.

However anyone feels about any of these things or wherever we may stand on this issue or any of the others we need to remain informed and aware or our beloved 2nd Ammendment may well be on the list next.

[pnac]

My bad, s.773 has been continued for 2010, but it isn't the one in the article.

OMGOMGOMG, they're gonna take alla my p0rnz! Alex JONES said so!

Good lord.

We've got a draft of a bill, which hasn't even received a number yet. Furthermore, this looks suspiciously like last year's S. 773.

And how well did S. 773 do? Lookathat...it's been more than a year since that passed, and it's got four, count 'em, four co-sponsors. We call that "dead in the water."

Seriously people. This is like the constant recurrences of HR 45 all over again.

Thanks for the snarkyness, Tom, you're a real "gentleman". Maybe it's the p0rnz?

[ScottRiqui]

I haven't read the details of the bill, but my general thought is that like it or not, the internet has become part of our national infrastructure, much like the power grid, roads, water supplies, etcetera.

In the case of a cyberattack such as a DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service), I feel that the government needs the authority to shut down certain nodes/paths in order to preserve the usability of the internet as a whole. There's a lot of critical communication that takes place over chat, VOIP and similar channels, especially if we lose landline telephone services and/or cell services.

[BGutzman]

OMGOMGOMG, they're gonna take alla my p0rnz! Alex JONES said so!

Good lord.

We've got a draft of a bill, which hasn't even received a number yet. Furthermore, this looks suspiciously like last year's S. 773.

And how well did S. 773 do? Lookathat...it's been more than a year since that passed, and it's got four, count 'em, four co-sponsors. We call that "dead in the water."

Seriously people. This is like the constant recurrences of HR 45 all over again.

The bill regardless of its current state is indicative of the thinking of one or more members of our elected representives thinking. People are creatures of habit and Im sure we will see this again at one point or another.

The scary part is this is the type of thinking going on in DC? The other scary part is how many good and intelligent people seem to think all these things are of so little importance.

Can't ever happen can it? How many good, honest, intelligent and hard working people said this too themselves in the 1930s and what was the consequence of saying it can't happen. Rights were crushed and a good portion of humanity suffered, some most horribly.

I could list probably a dozen similar happenings in history.

A little less rights concerning this and a little less rights concerning and the next thing you wake up and maybe stare a monster of your own making in the face.

Even the best of intended policys can go bad.