There Is No 'Internet Kill Switch' Legislation… And Pretending There Is Distracts From The Real Debate

from the overhyped-analysis dept

In mid-June, we noted that due to all the questionable cyberwar hype, Senator Joe Lieberman had introduced a “cybersecurity” bill. We had plenty of issues with that bill, but still found it odd a week or so later, when we started getting all sorts of submissions from people saying that Lieberman was trying to implement an “internet kill switch.” As bad as the bill appears to be, there isn’t an internet kill switch in the bill, and so we wrote another post pointing that out.

However, it appears that the meme of an “internet kill switch” — which apparently was first put forth by Declan McCullough — has pretty much taken over the debate on the bill. And some are noting that this is problematic, as there are lots of real issues to be discussed around the bill, and focusing on the bogus “internet kill switch” makes it less likely those other, real, issues will get as much attention.

Filed Under: , ,

Rate this comment as insightful
Rate this comment as funny
You have rated this comment as insightful
You have rated this comment as funny
Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam
You have flagged this comment
The first word has already been claimed
The last word has already been claimed
Insightful Lightbulb icon Funny Laughing icon Abusive/trolling/spam Flag icon Insightful badge Lightbulb icon Funny badge Laughing icon Comments icon

Comments on “There Is No 'Internet Kill Switch' Legislation… And Pretending There Is Distracts From The Real Debate”

Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment
12 Comments
Anonymous Coward says:

What Lieberman wants is to all traffic to go through a few points that he can control, that is it.

Which is ironic because the internet works best when it have no choke points, it is resilient because it cannot be dismembered, it was created exactly for the purpose of being able to survive such attacks he said it wants to prevent and yet he wants to handicap it so it make it even more vulnerable to crippling attacks.

This is not about cyber attacks is about spying on everyone and reducing the work the government has right now.

Sean T Henry (profile) says:

Re: Re:

If they get the internet to go through a few points for everything it removes the need for net-neutrality. Or better said forces a requirement for net-bias since the internet can’t handle pushing all the data through that one pipe so we need to prioritize the packets. Also it would give Telcos an extra arguing point for gov funding to “build out” there infrastructure. (LOL the thought of them building out.)

out_of_the_blue says:

"The Internet's public-private balance is a difficult one."

From the last link, one “Nancy Scola”. — No, it’s not. Just gov’t STAY OUT.

Now, having read the piece at that last link, I feel MISLED from your phrase: “there are lots of real issues”. — Not at that link, just a few paragraphs, first self-referencing, then saying it’s “important”, and that Obama won’t have a giant red button on his desk. That’s not journalism, just blather.

JBDragon says:

Re: Re:

Like the Democrats that can’t be bothered to read any bills and flat out SAY SO!!! There may not be a so called Internet Kill Switch in THIS bill, but it puts the Government is far more control that it shouldn’t have, and just like everything else, before long, there’s yet another bill a few years later that really does give the government a Internet Kill Switch!!! Which is a BAD thing no matter WHO is running the Government. Just to prove my point, here’s a good example!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW7mOaPnYYA

That’s just sad, rush though a bill that no one has time to read, or understand, and really just don’t care. I don’t care what side your on, it’s just plain WRONG.

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Coward Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here

Comment Options:

Make this the or (get credits or sign in to see balance) what's this?

What's this?

Techdirt community members with Techdirt Credits can spotlight a comment as either the "First Word" or "Last Word" on a particular comment thread. Credits can be purchased at the Techdirt Insider Shop »

Follow Techdirt

Techdirt Daily Newsletter

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

A weekly news podcast from
Mike Masnick & Ben Whitelaw

Subscribe now to Ctrl-Alt-Speech »
Techdirt Deals
Techdirt Insider Discord
The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...
Loading...