According to the Huffington Post, there is another proposal proposed by Joseph Lieberman to which would allow the President of the United States to shut down or take control over portions of the Internet. Not only is this news, but if it passes, it would potentially change how we gather information and what we can access via the Internet forever. What reasons would the U.S. government have for shutting down the Internet? The short list; cyber terrorism, protect government agencies, secure government files from groups like Wikileaks , after that…it gets very fuzzy on why a Internet Kill Switch would be needed.
In fact, I imagine that if government agencies are protecting their data, records, top secret files, and have the best professionals in the industry, there is no need at all for a kill switch of any type for the Internet. How does shutting down the Internet protect “the people”? Shutting off access and the Internet does nothing for anyone at anytime. If your computer is protected properly, you and your data should be just fine. If not, get better counter-hackers to combat the hackers or build better firewalls.
The power of the Internet is; the freedom to publish content and read content freely without restraint or censorship. Knowledge is power. The ability to locate documents, new languages, concepts, formulas, and information is empowering. If is one of the purest forms of freedom we have ever experienced. If the freedom to access the Internet becomes restricted consider, the restrictions and “Kill Switch” the Chinese or North Koreans have.
Don’t get me wrong…I don’t think a Kill Switch would ever pass. Nor do I think our government would revert back to hunting communists. Then again, Germany and the world was doing just fine prior to Hitler. The Internet may end up being the most important discovery in human history. To give anyone man, person, woman, or government body the ability to kill it for any reason is the very first step in controlling and regulation for other, more personal liberties.
Keeping the Internet accessible for all is critical for commerce, communication, liberty, and in some cases life itself. So, ponder the possibility of turning on your computer one day to find FaceBook has been shut down, or you simply can’t log in and all you see is this:
Due to U.S. Government Policy Bill number 666-4579 Article – A The United States Government has shut down the Internet because we can’t protect our own computers from the boogieman. Please try in a few weeks or so [when after long delays in bureaucratic B.S.] we will have the Internet turned back on. We do not apologize for this inconvenience.
