The internet kill switch and other lies the internet told you
By Laura June 
posted June 24th 2010 11:43AM
posted June 24th 2010 11:43AM
So what are Lieberman's evil plans for the 'net? His proposal, S. 3480, is a far more subtle document than the original act, which essentially says "hey, do whatever you have to do, man," and calls for the designation of cyberspace as a 'national asset.' It asks for the private owners of critical infrastructure to develop risk assessment plans, and plans to mitigate that risk, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security. There are also several recommended procedures called for in the event of an emergency, but none of them have anything to do with a mechanism to shut anything down, and the director would be expressly prohibited from requiring owners to use any specific mechanism. So... the exact opposite of a kill switch. Also, it's worthwhile to note that the entire proposition calls for these changes to be developed by the private sector itself, rather than imposed on it. Kind of makes the story a little less interesting, that's for sure. Hit up the source -- Talking Points Memo -- for a far more detailed, insightful account of what's actually going down.
@Spiny Norman They are horrible at trouble shooting! hahahaha
all you have to do is arrange multiple dump trucks to dump simultaneously, and clog the series of tubes.
So if the government is getting attacked via the internet they just can't unplug themselves, they have to unplug everyone else?
I still hate Lieberman. I'm ashamed to be from CT cause of him and Rell.
How would you feel if a Republican was trying to do this?
The same people now going "It's cool, the FCC isn't going to do anything destructive to the internet" were screaming at the top of their lungs over the Patriot Act communication stuff. Same with the other side though, those screaming that the FCC are the new Thought Police were willing to let the last administration run ramshod over Privacy Laws...
Hypocrisy all over. It's sickening.
@Critic2029 Politics hypocritical?! But that's unpossible!!
1934... Franklin D. Roosevelt taking rights from citizens. No surprise that was passed during his administration... and no wonder we as Americans rushed out to enact term limits as soon as his body was cold..
And they're at it again... Communist China here we come. (At least ol' Steve Jobs will be happy.)
@AdamZSG Hello watcher of Fox News. Please stay tuned for even more sensationalist bullshit with no factual basis. You do realize that those dreadful socialist notions FDR had are what gave people jobs and ended the The Great Depression, right? Cause Hoover was doing such a great job just ignoring it.
They'll have to get Roy and Moss' box away from Jen first...
@johdaxx LOL i seriously almost pissed my self when i read your post! How has no one thought of that yet?!?!!
I don't doubt they could do it. Look at china, facebook, twitter and many other sites are completely blocked there and the only way around them is through a vpn.
But if this goes like any of mr obamas other grand plans for the nation he will likely just throw cash at it and expect the problem to fix itself...
New world order anybody?
If Al Gore invented the internet he should have the only rights to shut it down.
Love the KSE graphic \m/
Sounds like something straight out of Live Free, Die Hard.
Uh, no. Just because it's already in a 1934 act does not mean that it's a good idea to put a killswitch on the internet. The 1934 telecom act was written when the internet did not exist. It was written when the primary means of telecommunications were the telephone. Now, we have the Internet, which is about as completely different from a telephone as you can imagine.
I'll put it this way: Important whistleblower secrets, human rights advocacy videos, and political campaigns can't be distributed efficiently via telephones. There's plenty of information on the Internet that is politically sensitive and would only be able to spread at all because of the Internet's inherent characteristics - NOBODY should have the ability to prevent that publication via technological means.
It is the only way to stop /b/!
Awwww - cumonnnn - I want my infamatory headline so I can say "Government is a bunch of idiots. I could do so much better!"
Your such a buzzkill with all your reason and your reasearch into what people "actually said."
the only purpose i can see for an "internet kill switch" is to prevent skynet from happening.
Shut down all communication during a crisis great idea. I guess it will be easier to tell when the worlds coming to an end.
They don't have to kill the "internet" they only have to tell Sprint, Verizon, ATT and all other service provider that they have to implement a strategy to stop the throughput out to their subscribers. Stop the output, the input is irrelevant.
Just another way for the government to try and strip away your freedoms and control your life. So when they come to mimic Chavez's dictatorship, you won't know about it, or be able to tell anyone else about it.
It wouldn't be much of an internet if one country could shut it down.
The new engadget Kool-aid drink....it's mmm mmm good.
yeh but if you do invent a ''kill switch'' then hackers and viruses could potentially ''kill'' the internet
Can't stop the signal, Mal.
@Slowrollin Firefly reference = yes.
lol, rumors...
Liberals always trying to impose government control on anything and everything.
@jawman Those goddamn liberals. Always taking away our rights. Supporting women's suffrage and desegregation. I have a right to slap my old lady around if she tries to vote. And blacks on the same bus as me, invading my rights. WTF is that all about?
You should shut your jaw, man. Cuz it's making your brain look stupid.
@felipedeeznuts
Making MY brain look stupid? You are the stupid one.
I never said ANYTHING like that. What you said is plain outrageous. You are the stupid one, putting words into people's mouth. Seriously, look at yourself. Look at what you said. I had to reread it because I was so shocked you would say such an outrageous thing. I guess if I'm not a liberal, then I must be a racist and a woman abuser.
You are a complete idiot.
@felipedeeznuts The man has a point. Liberals today have this ideology that people are stupid and cannot decide for themselves. So the Government has to become our Babysitter and provide for us. Sure some actions are good, but Government run health care or whatever you want to call it, is going to bankrupt this country.
@jawman If only more people actually considered their choices instead of what "The Rabbit told them to do" then America might not be so fucked up right now. At least Bush understood that you cant reason with the same people who want to kill you.
Wait i thought the internet was not classified as a telecommunication medium by the FCC which would mean currently it does not fall under the 1934 Communications Act. Only recently has the FCC tried to reclassify the definition of the internet as a telecommunication medium; making it possible to regulate and have that coveted kill switch that currently does not exist. Making the US one step closer to the countries like Iran and Venezuela.
The Internet is international, hence INTERnet. America do not have jurisdiction to shut it down. Cut off US citizens and even close down US servers, maybe, but no more.
all you guys comparing the US to iran, venezuela, and scary_country_I_heard_about_002...I'm sure you're just having a bad day and taking it out on the engadget posts...and aren't actually total tools.
@jankum having one of the best days of my life. You cant deny that the government is getting more and more bloated by the day. What you can say is either you are for or against its struggle for greater power over our lives and freedom.
@corkis84 Great Response, there are now more government employees than private sector employees. AND they make 45% more with benefits....So there is a smaller percentage of those on the tax rolls supporting the big government machine, the rest are just sifting the cash for the government within itself.
By internet kill switch they mean disconnecting the USA's internet from the rest of the world. They make it sound like the USA has the power to shut down the world's internet.
Sure half the world's websites are there and everything would slow the fuck down because of it, but we'd manage to stay afloat. By 'we' I mean those of us not in the USA.
Mel Gibson to the rescue!
Yeah, but Bush was the only douche-bag big enough the actually do something like this. So we're good. Until the white trash of America rise again and vote for someone with the same I.Q. as them. Like next election.
@felipedeeznuts Obviously you are blinded by your political biases. Obama wants you to be like everyone else, have the same, look the same, and talk the same... at any cost....but if you got off of the bong for more than 20 minutes, you'd realize the bigger picture and not let your one sided view of the world taint your opinion.
@Agfadoc Its great to see some real intellect on the Engadget blogs. I wont let the Government dictate how I live my life.
@Born2Jew it truly saddens me to realize a whole generation is being used and manipulated by people (ALL politicians) who only claim they are there to help them...they are like a kid in the back seat on a road trip, not looking up from their game system or cell phone, not identifying where we are going or how we are getting there, only asking if we are there yet. The manipulator couldn't ask for a better target.
I love being reminded that so few who use it actually realize how it works.
That being said, these old politicians need to die off already and be replaced with people who have an understanding of the modern world.
No more than we all like to be told we are all wife beating racists rednecks if you are conservative in any form. Not all liberals are code pink members either. The 10% fringe on both sides are dictating the argument for the other 80% who are rational. Giving the government more power over the freedom of information, based on historic reference, will surely give them more power over your freedom to use it.
I love how no one seems to mention that if an internet kill-switch WAS used, they'd most likely have to shut down all US based servers. This would essentially crash a large chunk of the internet because of all the proxy servers and such. Sure, China can shut off their internet, but as mentioned China is a dictatorship and a killswitch engage(d) in China wouldn't affect the rest of the world as more than a moderate ripple. Then there's also companies that rely on the 'net to operate anymore, such as banks and the stock market. If the maximum "sentence" for internet shut-down of 120 were imposed, wouldn't our economy take a nose-dive?