Tabula Rasa Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 (Never mind. I think this has been been brought up before. Mods feel free to delete this topic.) Hey all, a friend told me that he heard on a talk radio show, that there's legislation in congress to allow the president to completely shut down the Internet in the case of a cyberterrorism attack.Something like a button he could push.(You can't shut down the entire thing, but I'm guessing it means all the servers in the U.S.) Anyone else hear anything like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vixentrox Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Yes, there is some legislation going around that would give the government the authortiy to shut down privately (and publically) owned networks. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/082809-cybersecurity-bill.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightflight Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 I wouldn't doubt that there is something in the Patriot Act that would allow that, but I can't see him doing it unless there was a real threat. So much commerce depends on the web that it would be foolish to shut it down for anything other than a real emergency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro-bear Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I wouldn't doubt that there is something in the Patriot Act that would allow that, but I can't see him doing it unless there was a real threat. So much commerce depends on the web that it would be foolish to shut it down for anything other than a real emergency. I agree with your assessment of the situation. It seems extremely unlikely because of the commercial impact and popular opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Net Eng Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I wouldn't doubt that there is something in the Patriot Act that would allow that, but I can't see him doing it unless there was a real threat. So much commerce depends on the web that it would be foolish to shut it down for anything other than a real emergency. I agree with your assessment of the situation. It seems extremely unlikely because of the commercial impact and popular opinion. Not to mention the technical issues involved. Good luck shutting down a world wide self healing network... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RankStranger Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I wouldn't doubt that there is something in the Patriot Act that would allow that, but I can't see him doing it unless there was a real threat. So much commerce depends on the web that it would be foolish to shut it down for anything other than a real emergency. I agree with your assessment of the situation. It seems extremely unlikely because of the commercial impact and popular opinion. Not to mention the technical issues involved. Good luck shutting down a world wide self healing network... I just hope the internet doesn't send somebody back in time to assassinate Obama's Momma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted October 24, 2009 Super Moderator Share Posted October 24, 2009 If Al Gore can invent it, Obama can certainly shut it down. On a practical note, in a Real Emergency™ martial law would likely be declared, and I believe that implies absolute government control over anything it deems necessary to control. Whether it is practical or even possible to stop the Internet is another issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qec Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Um. No. This topic is ludicrous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vixentrox Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 If Al Gore can invent it, Obama can certainly shut it down. On a practical note, in a Real Emergency™ martial law would likely be declared, and I believe that implies absolute government control over anything it deems necessary to control. Whether it is practical or even possible to stop the Internet is another issue. If the government claims the authority they could I suppose order the major providers to shut down. Comcast, AT&T, MSN, and whatever. While shutting down the internet per see is pretty much impossible barring things like a high altitude nuclear explosion, they could have big chunks of it become inaccessible to the average joe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vixentrox Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Um. No. This topic is ludicrous. Is it? If they ordered all the internet providers to shut down (and they complied), pray tell how you would access anything? That would effectively end YOUR access to the internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qec Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Um. No. This topic is ludicrous. Is it? If they ordered all the internet providers to shut down (and they complied), pray tell how you would access anything? That would effectively end YOUR access to the internet. Yeah, but they would never do that because that would cause severe economic collapse immediately. This would rob them of funds, make us a geo-political laughing stock, invite international isolation, overthrow of the government the old fashioned way, etc etc. Plus, who says even if this suicide order was given (economic and political suicide), the providers would comply? There are hundreds and hundreds of providers anyway. Like I said, the topic is ludicrous. I mean, the US government alone could shutdown the Internet across the entire planet using it's EMP nuclear arsenal, but it wouldn't do so either. So technically yes it can be shut down. Will it? Not unless the government wanted itself to get overthrown the old fashioned way after people lost shitloads of money and the economy started collapsing. So sure, technically it can be shut down; pretty much worldwide even just like I explained. But would it be shutdown here? Even for a few hours? Nope. Not a chance in hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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