Yes you have heard it right the US senate committee yesterday approved the what is being called online the “Kill Switch” bill which is now going to move to the floor to be voted on, what is it.. the power to Shut Down The Internet For 4 Months.
This can’t really be happening right, where is the freedom gone is everything going to be controlled…If you work on the internet in any capacity this could really affect you…
Where Did This All Start…
Senator Joe Lieberman has pushed hard to get this, which means that the federal government will have absolute power to close down internet networks for a period of four months.
It will even have the authority to stop traffic coming in from many other countries if a National Emergency is declared.
There have been many different organizations criticizing this bill and expressing their concern about the taking away of free speech with the “Kill Switch” bill and the shutting down of the internet for four months or more when it suits them.
Is The Internet Still Safe From Regulation?
The big fear here with this “Kill Switch” bill is that it is intended solely to bring regulatory power onto the internet…
Meaning It Will Be Controlled! And So Will You…
Has This Happened Before?
China has been doing this for many years to its citizens where they have been deciding what information can be seen and what can’t, is this where we are heading right now… China uses this as a guise of combating cyber warfare, but we all know that it is to silence their citizens and generally keep them in the dark about many world events or even what is happening in their own country so that they can maintain control over the population.
Are we next in the firing line…
Is It To Late Already?
Apparently President Obama already has the power to do this very thing under the communications act when there is a threat of war, or anything that can impact on the State.
So what could be the real reason for this to be happening? we can only stipulate, but what we can say is that they could not have picked a better time with all the public attention on the major oil spill off the coast distracting many of the US population…
We would really like to hear your thoughts on this and especially as an affiliate marketer or anyone who currently makes their living on the internet… you will notice we said currently, remember if you don’t act the President will have the power if this is passed to shut down the internet for four months without congressional oversight or approval.
Thank you for bringing this story to light. Kristi shared a similar post on Twitter. I need to find it and send you the link.
Hi Gail
Yes it is a bit of a concern would really like to hear some more information on this… and whether it can actually happen…
This is hard to believe. Although not surprising coming from the Obamination presidency. If this is serious we need to stop it. Hope you can post some additional information on this.
Hi Brad…
I am based in Australia so I get very little information on this. That was the reason for the post I was hoping that some of my USA associates such as yourself could comment on this and add more information as things unfold over there so that we can also see what we are in for here in Australia as we usually follow what happens in the USA.
Few Americans realize that there have been Presidential orders in place for years giving the President the authority to do almost anything to us. All they have to do is claim it is an emergency or due to National Security.
Its not surprising they are feeling a bit twitchy, they have used the internet against a number of states in the past year, look at Iran and the problems that government had with people using it to communicate, unregulated by the state amongst themselves.
Most Governments have this power anyway, they don’t need to vote on it. They just do it.
With national security as the reason, they don’t need to say anything else.
A “kill switch” as talked about in the blog is a hell of a lot cheaper than the system China uses to Firewall her internet
It does not suprise me.We have all become very dependant with the internet and most would be lost with out it.Maybe they should flip the switch during the next Presidential Election.
Using the Internet is one thing – businesses that rely on the Internet for their livelihood are the ones who will be hurt the most. Four months would be enough to close many of them down forever.
That is why we all need to move toward alternatives. Remember bbs? We may want to have a backup method of going online where we dial directly into specific sites to interact with each other.
Ideally we need to be able to connect outside what is controlled by mutli-national corporations and governments using point-to-point wireless and a private communications trunk of some kind. It could be done.
Oh.. this is news to me.. So many people are relying on internet for their livelihood..me included. Is it just hype or will there be a shut down like that?
I cannot imagine such a scenario…
Hi Sunu
I could not really say, however you might remember what happened in Egypt recently where that Government actually did shutdown the internet to their citizens, so maybe it could be on the cards.
If Obama really does ever use “The Kill Switch” then the people will uproar. There is no way the citizens of the United States would let Obama do this without consequence.
Hi John
I really hope what you are saying is true and that people do not allow this type of thing to happen…
They’re not really controlling the internet, although everyone seems to think that Big Brother is watching. Considering everything is kept on servers as it is, they would have to subpoena servers with reasonable cause and get a judge’s approval.
Hi Ila
Maybe you should take a look at what is happening in the Egypt right now to stop people reporting what was going, all internet access was stopped.
They are not interested in the information that you are storing on your server, it is the information you are sending that’s why this can become a real reality.
There’s already a whole bunch of surveillance… and, understandably, it’s under the pretense of “national security.” And since most inter-communication is done through the internet these days, it’s a license to tap into our personal systems. Yeah, it’s a bit unnerving, but… I guess lack of privacy goes hand-in-hand with widespread digitalization.
Hi Maggie
Yes you are right if you want to use these types of services you have to give up some privacy.