Homeland Security Committee Passes "Kill Switch" Legislation

As a brief follow-up to Adam's post earlier this week, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs passed the "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010", S.3480 by voice vote. The bill grants the authority to the President to declare a national "cyber emergency".

A website called Govinfosecurity.com wrote:

Under the amended bill, a national cyber emergency could last for up to 30 days, and the president could renew it up to three times. It could only be renewed beyond 120 days with the approval of Congress. The bill limits the presidential action to only the most critical IT systems.

Senator Susan Collins had this to say:

The fact is: We cannot fail to act. We can't wait until there is a cyber 9/11 and say, ‘Why didn't we act? We knew this was coming.' The attacks are ongoing even as we meet. So we must act, and I believe we have drafted a responsible bill to do so. [emphasis added]

A cyber 9/11? Really, Senator? (I think someone watched "Live Free or Die Hard" too many times...)

via Campaign For Liberty — Homeland Security Committee Passes "Kill Switch" Legislation.

Here is what this is really about:

54:51 "... or we need you to put this part of your network DOWN for uh 12 hours or a day or whatever..." - video

In other words, if you have information about a crime inside the government, the government, thanks to this "protection," could tell your network provider to shut YOU DOWN for a day while thugs go in and confiscate the evidence against them.

And the government guarantees that you can't sue your network provider for doing that.

Why not just give the government a switch that makes everyone deaf and blind?

"Red alert! Red alert! Citizens of the USA, open your wallets and put these bags over your heads while we protect you from criminals you can not see! (us, heh heh)"

Cyber 9/11? Give me a break. Jesus, just get a firewall.

Just don't hire idiots to secure your network and you won't have to worry about being hacked. If something major could happen, it would have already happened!

The proof is in their own argument, billions of "attacks" and NOTHING has happened other than a some people being tricked into loading fake "windows anti-virus" malware that tells them to give their credit card to a scam site.

Authority already exists to go after these criminals.

Those billions of "attacks" are mostly worthless automated port scans that any hardware or software based stateful firewall stops. Most network administrators aren't morons and don't need your "protection", Mr. Homeland Protection Racket.

There is no National Cyber Emergency. There will be no real National Cyber Emergency. The net is a web. Take down a part of it and connections are re-routed automatically. Dams, electric grids and financial networks have all been attacked for years with no problems.

Screw these lies. Your freedom to communicate is under attack. Democracy is under attack. Fight back. Sink the censorship!