Simple Man Politics

Here is some not so good news for those of us you enjoy using the internet without limits 24/7/365 and the news is that that right could all go away. That’s right my friends the current government is seeking the right to pull the plug on the internet you pay for at anytime with almost no justification.

There was a Senate Bill proposed only a short time ago that would allow the US government to shut down the internet during a declared emergency. This little noticed but serious Senate Bill was introduced by Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) would give the federal government unprecedented power with regard to the internet.

The Cyber Security Act of 2009 as it is known would federalize what is termed as critical infrastructure security like banks, telecommunications, and energy, which are currently in the hands of the private sector. This bill would shift the power that users and companies have to the US government.

This legislation also calls for a cyber security czar to be appointed. This person would have the unprecedented authority to shut down computer networks, which includes private networks as well if there is a cyber attack currently taking place at the time he/she decides to close these networks.

One of the provisions that are being proposed in this bill is to give the President the total authority without checks and balances to shut down internet traffic if he perceives there is an emergency. It would also allow him to disconnect critical infrastructure systems, simply by stating he is doing this because of national security. This bill will obviously go too far towards circumventing our civil rights.

This bill also contains a very dangerous provision that would decimate privacy and security in one shot and here it is.

“The Secretary of Commerce— shall have access to all relevant data concerning (critical infrastructure) networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy restricting such access…”

This provision basically states that the Commerce Department would have absolute and non-emergency access to “all relevant data” without the safeguards of standards or judicial review. The bill could even circumvent things like the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Privacy Protection Act, and financial privacy regulations.

In essence this would give the US government and the Secretary of Commerce in particular access to all of your private communications, medical information, and financial information with out your authorization. This could mean that your ISP may have to provide the government with unfettered access to their systems with possibly with something like its own backdoor.

Now I can’t presume to speak for the rest of you, but this bill pisses me off. If you leave a back door into your system for the government there would be others attempting to take advantage of that back door as well and they won’t be the good guys either. Besides which there is always some sort of cyber attack happening these days so what, do we lose our internet as soon as the bill is passed?

I would highly recommend to those of you out there who are not zombies to contact your senators and congresspersons and tell them that if they value their seats in congress they will not vote to pass this legislative power grab crap known as “The Cyber Security Act of 2009”.

That is my rant for today and I hope you all get stirred up by this one. Have a great day my friends and CIAO4NOW!!!!!