Would the U.S. ever shut down the net?
 

Lieberman is, or was attempting to do this last year...

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/293667 :mad:

Of course they would. They just haven't been given a real reason to do so yet. The internet is doing a better job of occupying masses of dumb people's time, keeping them out of trouble, than it is causing a nuisance at the moment.

done ...

Not a chance in hell.

They're trying to revive the internet "kill switch" bill again:

http://www.domaincensorship.com/2011...-switch-in-us/

damn CYF, I didn't see that link. Yeah AJC I agree. And the sad part is that it is true for the most part...

the pcmag article gives a balanced non fear mongering take.

basically: as it its right now, the couldn't do it easily as it's too decentralized. but if they get the kill switch, yes.

From the senate.gov website:

The threat of a catastrophic cyber attack is real. It is not a matter of ?if? an attack will happen; rather it is a matter of ?when.? Just this March, the Senate?s Sergeant at Arms reported that the computer systems of the Executive Branch agencies and the Congress are now under cyber attack an average of 1.8 BILLION times per month.

Additionally, cyber crime costs our national economy billions of dollars annually. And, as intelligence officials have warned, malicious cyber activity occurs on a daily basis, on an unprecedented scale, and with extraordinary sophistication. As the former Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell testified in February, ?If we went to war today, in a cyber war, we would lose.?


According to the bill, they would need a national or regional catastrophe, which is defined as:

? mass casualties with an extraordinary number of fatalities;
? severe economic consequences;
? mass evacuations of prolonged duration; or
? severe degradation of national security capabilities, including intelligence and defense functions.

S. 3480 would bring Presidential authority to respond to a major cyber attack into the 21st century by providing a precise, targeted, and focused way for the President to defend our most sensitive infrastructure.

? The authority in S. 3480 would be limited to 30-day increments and may be extended beyond 120 total days only with Congressional approval.
? The President must use the ?least disruptive means feasible? to respond to the threat.
? The authority does not authorize the government to ?take over? critical infrastructure.
? It does not authorize any new surveillance authorities.
? The President would be required to provide advance notice to Congress of the intent to declare a national cyber emergency or as soon as possible after a declaration, with reasons why advance notice was not possible.

Rather than granting a ?kill switch,? S. 3480 would make it far less likely for a President to use the broad authority he already has in current law to take over communications networks.

Section 706 of the Communications Act of 1934 provides nearly unchecked authority to the President to ?cause the closing of any facility or station for wire communication? and ?authorize the use of control of any such facility or station? by the Federal government. Exercise of the authority requires no advance notification to Congress and can be authorized if the President proclaims that ?a state or threat of war? exists. The authority can be exercised for up to six months after the ?state or threat of war? has expired.

i dont think so

Only when the Aliens are coming so you never find out about it over Twitter.

Without a doubt it would happen if the circumstances were right.

seriously, who would put up with that here?

the companies ON the net have a lot more money and power than the US govt. the US govt works for corporations, not the people. google's lobbyists alone would ensure this would never happen.

Google buckled to China and so does everyone else. They are not too big to defy a government should an order come down directly from the White House.

In the event of a "national security" situation, they would do what they are told.

china is much bigger and richer than the US, google, and/or the whole rest of the world. they also don't have lobbyists - the point of my post.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

aaaaaaaaaaaaa NO

Closing the NET...would be like letting the data out for curing Cancer...

We would have a total collapse of unemployment and recession that would bury this country 100 x worst then the 2000 internet bubble, 911, and the financial banking fiasco.

Those 2 sectors internet technology and health care are huge for jobs...and make this country billions and billions of dollars. Never going to happen, if anything the NET will be everywhere at our fingertips, in fact my TV has the internet built in with a ton of apps to download.

if their political power in threatened do you think THEY give a shit if everything collapses around them, so as long as they keep power?

look at history. look at zimbabwe and countless other examples.

yeah I understand what your saying that the government could do what they want but were talking about then going backwards then. If anything they will charge you more fees/taxes for minutes you are on the internet. Remember we want to remain the #1 economy in the world....according to Obama's speech the other night.

who would put up with getting basically raped everytime you take a flight or homeland security messages in walmart saying to report "odd" people?

very unlikely that they would

What? Internets in dangers? :upsidedow

All they need is another Gulf of Tonkin or 9/11 and they will...

:D

Say hallo to Skynet

http://www.fmlftw.com/wp-content/upl.../09/skynet.jpg

Not going to happen. Maybe in the event of WWIII, where China is making a laughing joke of out critical US military & intelligence infrastructure, but that's probably about it.

Shutting down the US internet would grind a good portion of the world's economy to a halt. Wouldn't worry about it too much.

Google gave China the middle finger. They moved their hosting to Hong Kong, made their chinese page a big graphic that looked like the normal page but forwarded to the Hong Kong site, and technically followed the letter of the law while still giving the Chinese citizens the least amount of censored results possible.