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Proposed Cybersecurity Bill Would Give the President Unprecedented Control Over the Internet

Justin Kerr — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:46:40 -0500

Back in April we reported on new legislation which, if passed, would give the president the authority to take control of the Internet. Over four months later it appears that not only has this bill continued to be worked on, but it is now closer to fruition than ever before. Revisions to the legislation made by the office of Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, remains “vague” according to Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance. “It is unclear what authority Sen. Rockefeller thinks is necessary over the private sector. Unless this is clarified, we cannot properly analyze, let alone support the bill.

The legislation which is now up to 55 pages in length isn’t all controversial, in fact the only section that is being hotly debated at the moment is Section 201. In this section the President is permitted to “direct the nations response to the cyber threat” if necessary for “the national defense and security.” This would allow the White House to engage in “periodic mapping” of private networks that are determined to be critical, and those companies will “share” requested information with the federal government. In plain English, this simply means that if your company is deemed “critical”, regulations determine who you can hire, what information you can disclose, and under what conditions the government can take control over your companies computers or network.

“The language has changed but it doesn’t contain any real additional limits,” according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “It simply switches the more direct and obvious language they had originally to the more ambiguous version. The designation of what is a critical infrastructure system or network as far as I can tell has no specific process”.

CNET’s Declan McCullagh spoke with White House deputy communications director Jena Longo who issued the following written statement:

“The president of the United States has always had the constitutional authority, and duty, to protect the American people and direct the national response to any emergency that threatens the security and safety of the United States. The Rockefeller-Snowe Cybersecurity bill makes it clear that the president's authority includes securing our national cyber infrastructure from attack. The section of the bill that addresses this issue, applies specifically to the national response to a severe attack or natural disaster. This particular legislative language is based on longstanding statutory authorities for wartime use of communications networks. To be very clear, the Rockefeller-Snowe bill will not empower a "government shutdown or takeover of the Internet" and any suggestion otherwise is misleading and false. The purpose of this language is to clarify how the president directs the public-private response to a crisis, secure our economy and safeguard our financial networks, protect the American people, their privacy and civil liberties, and coordinate the government's response”.

Do you think this is a serous threat? Or do legislators need to stop watching late night re-runs of Die Hard?

Proposed Bill Gives Obama the Power to Shut Down the Internet

Justin Kerr — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:53:16 -0500

New legislation proposed on April 1st will give a whole new meaning to geeks who like to joke that the President has his finger on the button. If the proposed legislation comes to pass, the president will have the ability to shut down public and private networks, including internet traffic should the need arise. This power is part of a new cybersecurity emergency plan that is designed to help protect the US against attack, but also gives the government unprecedented control over our networks.

The critics of this bill however are lining up, and are voicing their concerns over how this power could be abused. According to Leslie Harris of the Center for Democracy and Technology, “This is pretty sweeping legislation. Seems the President could turn off the Internet completely or tell someone like Verizon to limit or block certain traffic. There is a lot to worry about in this bill.”

Since the bill is still in its early stages, it is unclear what amendments will be made, or if it will even be passed at all. West Virginia Democratic Senitor John Rockefeller made it clear to the media that this is the first draft of the proposal, and that they will be in close contact with internet-centric companies who obviously have a lot more at stake here than the average user.

Obama may soon have the power to nuke the real world, and World of Warcraft. Are you comfortable with this?

New Zealand Delays Controversial P2P Cutoff Plan

Pulkit Chandna — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:15:56 -0600

The Kiwi government seems to have been somewhat precipitate in formalizing a controversial “three strikes” rule meant to discourage copyright usurpation. The anti-P2P law, which was originally scheduled to come into force on February 28, has been pushed back to March in the face of some stiff resistance from a group called the Creative Freedom Foundation and country’s ISPs.

An internet blackout organized by the group has forced the government to reconsider the controversial legislation. The Kiwi government plans to bring it into effect on March 27. However, the government wants the ISPs and copyright holders to see eye to eye on the issue before enforcing the law.

The ISPs are opposing the legislation, which makes repeat copyright infringers liable for disconnection, because they want tainted users to be able to defend themselves (using counter-notices).

Image Credit: Mathewingram

Watch Out! Regulations Make Retention of IMs, Texts Compulsory for Businesses

Pulkit Chandna — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 18:46:34 -0500

New regulations have made it compulsory for businesses to retain all wireless communications including IMs and text messages. Among the various legislations mandating the archival of wireless communications the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) are most prominent. Also, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) made the archiving of IMs and Texts compulsory through one of its edicts issued in December, 2007.

These legislations have encouraged companies like LiveOffice, Akonix Systems and Onset Technology to offer software solutions to businesses to effectively retain wireless communications. Onset is trying its level best to dominate this niche market segment by standing out from its competition. Onset’s technology can automatically screen messages before they are sent and subsequently block them if they contain something objectionable.

The ability to screen messages can save the blushes for enterprises as it is not uncommon for employees to aggrandize their messages with embarrassingly colorful language.

Image Credit: Crunchgear

No BS Podcast #22 - The Summertime Fun Edition

The Maximum PC Staff — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:44:32 -0500

This week on the podcast, Katherine, Gordon, Dave, Tom, and Jeremy discuss:

Showdown LAN in San Jose and our upcoming event in Indianapolis
The latest CPU news from AMD and Intel
Proposed legislation concerning copyright and DRM
Google vs. Microsoft: Fight!
Enter AMD's Megatasking Contest

All that, plus an update from the lab, Ask the Doctor, Reader Mail, and Gordon's rant of the week.

Subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/maximumpc/1337

Post comments below or email them to maximumpcpodcast@gmail.com