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US Congress may sneak in Internet ‘kill switch’
- flatulent1 16y agoWe're so dependent on things that use the net. Are we prepared to cripple commerce and unplug everyone's IP based phone? Maybe we should be focusing more on making mission critical services invulnerable to compromise through the net.
- sabat 16y agoThis made me think immediately of John Gilmore's quote about censorship: "The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it." [edit] Also: hmm, maybe we should create a Congress Kill Switch -- shut down Congress when it panders to corporate interests.
- lionhearted 16y ago> shut down Congress when it panders to corporate interests. You can replace "corporate interests" with "any factional interests" and the sentiment becomes even more true. All sorts of organizations try to use the government to further their interest and bludgeon their enemies - religious organizations, nonprofits, world governments, state governments, unions, public companies, banks, activist groups, and so on. None of these groups should be able to use the government to their advantage against free citizens.
- sabat 16y agoWell said.
- wmf 16y agoI wonder if NSLs can already shut down networks thanks to the PATRIOT act.
- gkefalas 16y agoA lot of "may," "potentially," "considering," and other weasel words in that article, no?
- noja 16y agoI wish someone would make a shutoff switch for Congress, or at least an auto-shutoff for anyone sneaking anything into a bill where it doesn't belong.
- edge17 16y agocan someone please explain, physically, wtf an internet 'kill switch' is?
- wmf 16y agoIt's a guy in a suit with a DHS badge who shows up at your door and says "you need to drop off the Net right now or the terrorists will win". Or maybe it's a phone call, but over the phone it's hard to tell real cops from Elbonian pranksters. Edit: I'm not joking; this is my understanding of how the system is supposed to work.
- bgutierrez 16y agoIt's a term used to scare people. There won't actually be a physical switch to kill the internet. If anything, it will be the authority to disconnect portions of the net. Probably by asking ISPs to cooperate.