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Obama's Internet Kill Switch Approved

Books and movies about terrorists highjacking planes and flying them into buildings.... and then people are shocked when it happens, as if no one had ever thought of the idea before.

All the movies about comets and asteroids hitting Earth.... but when it happens, just wait to hear all the anger and criticism about why we didn't do more to prepare for it (although it may not happen for hundreds of years.... but maybe next week?)....
 
I do not personally understand how serious a threat these attacks pose, although my impression is that the attacks would more effectively mess with things like transportation and the financial sector, not necessarily the military or Defense Department. I do have a friend who worked in the government until recently, and she did talk a while ago how the government IS pursuing options, as they do view this as a real threat. Then again, these may have been the same guys who had George Clooney trying to kill goats with their minds.....
 
You don't believe viruses are a threat? Botnets? DDOS attacks? Hacking into systems that control transportation, finance, etc.?

The things you mention are all blown absurdly out of proportion by sensationalist media. Even the dollar amounts thrown around to represent the damages caused by viruses and worms are grossly exaggerated by computer security companies.

That's one way of looking at it. The other is that the danger is just too great to be UNDERstating the problem. Why take the risk?
 
I just wish people would stop talking about "cyberwarfare" at all, because it just doesn't exist.

You don't believe viruses are a threat? Botnets? DDOS attacks? Hacking into systems that control transportation, finance, etc.? Ever seen Live Free or Die Hard?

Yes! Yes I have, and you're right! We need to lock down the internet when it's ciritcal to do so! We also need to stop holding massive amounts of bonds in office buildings! We need to stop storing massive amounts of gold in undergound federal banks! We need to stop... transporting military prisoners... into... international airports. (?! What the fuck was DH2 about, anyway?!)

If they can do it in movies they can do it in reality!

No more making of MacGuffin devices that are portable and can control nuclear powerplants from any location in the country!
 
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Oh yeah. It's right across the river. If you fly into DC, fly into Reagan. Dulles is only useful if you're leaving the country.
 
You don't believe viruses are a threat? Botnets? DDOS attacks? Hacking into systems that control transportation, finance, etc.?

The things you mention are all blown absurdly out of proportion by sensationalist media. Even the dollar amounts thrown around to represent the damages caused by viruses and worms are grossly exaggerated by computer security companies.

That's one way of looking at it. The other is that the danger is just too great to be UNDERstating the problem. Why take the risk?

Part of the point is that even if your hypothetical risk assessment turns out to be the case, what do we gain from a kill switch?

Again, the President already does have this power and the bill is merely meant to define limits on the power, but I think it should go further and remove the power altogether.
 
You don't believe viruses are a threat? Botnets? DDOS attacks? Hacking into systems that control transportation, finance, etc.?

The things you mention are all blown absurdly out of proportion by sensationalist media. Even the dollar amounts thrown around to represent the damages caused by viruses and worms are grossly exaggerated by computer security companies.

That's one way of looking at it. The other is that the danger is just too great to be UNDERstating the problem. Why take the risk?

There's also the risk your car will spontaneously explode while you're driving to the grocery store. Do you walk everywhere instead? The risks are roughly the same here--possible, but vastly unlikely. Yeah, a virus can get in and fuck up your computer. If you've been smart and have your data backed up, it's nothing more than a temporary annoyance.

At my last job, we got hit with a few worms because some people had laptops that they took home and used on their own Internet connections. (I know, I know. Stupid policy, to permit that.) It was rather irritating but no permanent harm was done. No critical data was lost. Lost some productive hours, certainly, but it wasn't some kind of horrible disaster.

The sort of widespread damage people seem to be worried about simply isn't possible, and it doesn't affect people and organizations who take adequate security precautions.
 
We've come a long way from the original notion of a disseminated, attack-proof, open information network. As most of the core ISP hubs are on U.S soil — & the ISP-providers have a history of rolling over at any official nudge (copyright, anti-terror, anti-crime) in a way phone providers or the postal service haven't — then it is extremely likely to make the U.S act like China & such. > "Oh it is so terrible that China controls citizen's internet access; that's a direct attack on civil liberties but hey it's okay for us to do it - our reasons are pure."
 
They're already "networked."

Since every name server has a list of valid root name servers, and it proceeds down that list for any name it doesn't have cached, you would have to take down all root name servers to effectively cripple DNS. Since those are located all over the world, this is a losing battle. By the time you got a few taken down, someone else would have new ones set up and get their IPs distributed to all remaining name servers.

Since DNS is a distributed hierarchy, you would have to nail a massive number of name servers at once, and even then the effects would be temporary.
 
I thought the point of the bill was to clarify that the internet is a telecommunication service so does fall under previous powers granted to the executive branch.
 
I thought the point of the bill was to clarify that the internet is a telecommunication service so does fall under previous powers granted to the executive branch.

yes but that doesn't have the same effect that "Obama's Internet Kill Switch" does.
 
There's also the risk your car will spontaneously explode while you're driving to the grocery store.

I've always had a strange fear that one day or night on the freeway, while I'm doing about 80mph, I'd suddenly smash into a cloaked car...
 
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