Posted on 08/28/2009 8:13:33 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.
They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.
The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.
"I think the redraft, while improved, remains troubling due to its vagueness," said Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, which counts representatives of Verizon, Verisign, Nortel, and Carnegie Mellon University on its board. "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."
Representatives of other large Internet and telecommunications companies expressed concerns about the bill in a teleconference with Rockefeller's aides this week, but were not immediately available for interviews on Thursday.
A spokesman for Rockefeller also declined to comment on the record Thursday, saying that many people were unavailable because of the summer recess. A Senate source familiar with the bill compared the president's power to take control of portions of the Internet to what President Bush did when grounding all aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001. The source said that one primary concern was the electrical grid, and what would happen if it were attacked from a broadband connection.
When Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce committee, and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced the original bill in April, they claimed it was vital to protect national cybersecurity. "We must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs--from our water to our electricity, to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records," Rockefeller said.
The Rockefeller proposal plays out against a broader concern in Washington, D.C., about the government's role in cybersecurity. In May, President Obama acknowledged that the government is "not as prepared" as it should be to respond to disruptions and announced that a new cybersecurity coordinator position would be created inside the White House staff. Three months later, that post remains empty, one top cybersecurity aide has quit, and some wags have begun to wonder why a government that receives failing marks on cybersecurity should be trusted to instruct the private sector what to do.
Rockefeller's revised legislation seeks to reshuffle the way the federal government addresses the topic. It requires a "cybersecurity workforce plan" from every federal agency, a "dashboard" pilot project, measurements of hiring effectiveness, and the implementation of a "comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy" in six months--even though its mandatory legal review will take a year to complete.
The privacy implications of sweeping changes implemented before the legal review is finished worry Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. "As soon as you're saying that the federal government is going to be exercising this kind of power over private networks, it's going to be a really big issue," he says.
Probably the most controversial language begins in Section 201, which permits the president to "direct the national response to the cyber threat" if necessary for "the national defense and security." The White House is supposed to engage in "periodic mapping" of private networks deemed to be critical, and those companies "shall share" requested information with the federal government. ("Cyber" is defined as anything having to do with the Internet, telecommunications, computers, or computer networks.)
"The language has changed but it doesn't contain any real additional limits," EFF's Tien says. "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. There's no provision for any administrative process or review. That's where the problems seem to start. And then you have the amorphous powers that go along with it."
Translation: If your company is deemed "critical," a new set of regulations kick in involving who you can hire, what information you must disclose, and when the government would exercise control over your computers or network.
The Internet Security Alliance's Clinton adds that his group is "supportive of increased federal involvement to enhance cyber security, but we believe that the wrong approach, as embodied in this bill as introduced, will be counterproductive both from an national economic and national secuity perspective."
Ding....Ding.... we have a winner!
What an understatement! Worry or KNOW?
Of course!
Chocolate Chip Cookies are legal tender in all States especially Texas!
;<)
Perfect for mowing down our so called astroturf, isn’t it?
“Wounds my heart with a monotonous languor...”
All the crap I took over the years for trying to warn people that communists were coming into power.
All the name-calling by ‘fellow’ conservatives, ‘naive’, ‘alarmist’, ‘extremist’, ‘It can’t happen here.” etc—but it’s bittersweet, I gotta tell ya.
We’re in big trouble, folks. Americans before us feared and loathed communism for a reason. They’re here, well entrenched at the highest levels of our government and presently kicking-in our teeth.
You had better learn to fight back, or get used to thinking of them as your masters.
They will be relentless, brutal and you and your idea of freedom are in their way.
We must keep fighting them!
I need only 25 ft for the camper.
We have our own guns and oven. XD
Watch this video. What will it take for us to say no more and never again?
“John a une longue moustache...Blesse mon coeur d’une langueur monstrueuse.” With this Marxist tyrant subverting and/or shredding the Constitution, it already feels like “The Longest Day.” I thought Obamacare was going to be the tipping point for this reprobate, but this move may wake up the mentally arthritic that voted for cretin. Keep your powder dry, people, because I’m afraid the “Cold Civil War” is going to heat up pretty quick. God help us.
http://www.alipac.us/article2949.html
My working assumption is that there won't be "online" sources. The ISPs will be clamped down and shutdown. If there is anything left of radio stations, you may have to listen and disseminate what you can find. If ham radio operators aren't forbidden from operating, they might be able to forward news items over a broader area.
Thanks for the ping!
I’ll take all advice into consideration! thanks:)
A bill to ensure the continued free flow of commerce within the United States and with its global trading partners through secure cyber communications, to provide for the continued development and exploitation of the Internet and intranet communications for such purposes, to provide for the development of a cadre of information technology specialists to improve and maintain effective cybersecurity defenses against disruption, and for other purposes.
btrl
The new paradigm through which we should see these congressbastards is
are they an elitist or an individualist.
Yeah, we sure love our “Royalty” look at the Kennedys.
I think it is the dummies who love Royalty because it gives them a sense of security. And we know those who trade security for freedom deserve what they get.
9-12 in D.C.?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.