Senate Wants To Grant Emergency Internet Power

Here they go again. For the third time recently the U.S. Senate, this time in the form of Senator ??Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is proposing a bill that would grant the President the power to seize control of or even shut down parts of the Internet in the event of a cybersecurity emergency.

Previous attempts by Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) didn’t get too far. But Lieberman’s new attempt has been endorsed by Rockefeller and co-sponsored by Snowe according to a cnet article.

Now there’s bipartisanship for you… A Democrat, Independent and Republican all wanting more power for the government – power over the private parts of Internet.According the the cnet article

Any company on a list created by Homeland Security that also “relies on” the Internet, the telephone system, or any other component of the U.S. “information infrastructure” would be subject to command by a new National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications (NCCC) that would be created inside Homeland Security.

The bill (PDF) would give the NCCC  the power to monitor the “security status” of private sector Web sites, broadband providers, and other Internet components – and seize control of it in the event of a cyberattack.

Where does the government get the expertise to tell private Internet companies what to do in an emergency?

Let me ask you another question. Has the FAA upgraded its computer systems yet? Last I knew they were still using vacuum tubes.  Has the FBI, after spending billions of dollars, upgraded their system yet? And they want to take control of the Internet for “safety” reasons?

No thanks.