Bill Would Give President Emergency Control of Internet
August 28th, 2009Via: Cnet:
Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.
They’re not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.
The new version would allow the president to “declare a cybersecurity emergency” relating to “non-governmental” computer networks and do what’s necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for “cybersecurity professionals,” and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.
“I think the redraft, while improved, remains troubling due to its vagueness,” said Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, which counts representatives of Verizon, Verisign, Nortel, and Carnegie Mellon University on its board. “It is unclear what authority Sen. Rockefeller thinks is necessary over the private sector. Unless this is clarified, we cannot properly analyze, let alone support the bill.”
Research Credit: WS
Kudos, WS. Beat me to the punch.
I did read the bill first, however, and so offer this speed-reading tip for interested parties:
Here’s the text of the bill itself:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:s773is.txt.pdf
Here’s a typical snippet:
“…[The President]…
(2) may declare a cybersecurity emergency and
2 order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic
3 to and from any compromised Federal Government
4 or United States critical infrastructure information
5 system or network;
…”
Here’s the key skim-reading tip:
Do a search on the phrase “critical infrastructure”. Read each search hit.
My own take on this (executive summary time, folks) is that
(1) The President may declare any network
to be ‘critical infrastructure’
(2) The President can control (review, map,
throttle, disconnect, reconnect) any such
network in a time of emergency.
(3) The President declares any such emergency.
(4) These networks may explicitly include
privately-owned and operated networks.
if that’s not enough for you, search on
the phrase “certification” and see what
is planned for us there.
Not the the flavor of State Thug is relevant, but…as with the PATRIOT ACT (Joe Biden), this one is from a Democract, too, (J. Rockefeller/WV)
Doubleplus good, Citizen. Have an effective day!