Should the President (USA) have the Power to Unplug Private Networks?
-
I saw this article[^], and combined with how this administration leverages it's powers towards political ends I find it chilling. Scenario of abuse; Administration finds that a company contributed to it's political rival, shortly afterwards company's internet connection is shut down for "security reasons". An individual is an activist for a rival party and uses internet connection to campaign against administration, internet connection is shutdown for security reasons. Now we have seen this administration use it's power to defraud bond investors in GM, selection of which dealerships survive and which fail, based on apparent political affiliation. Sorry, to much of an area for abuse, Rockefeller's bill needs to be defeated. This would give the Federal Government the ability to put anyone out of business that it disagrees with.
The president should have the power to defend the country. If we can be attacked by enemies through our networks, than the government has to have some means of defending against such attacks. Is it entirely probably that such a power will be abused for entirely political reasons? Yes, it is. But that is an argument for keeping people out of power who might wish to do that, not to leave the country defenseless against the very same kind of people.
Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.
-
I saw this article[^], and combined with how this administration leverages it's powers towards political ends I find it chilling. Scenario of abuse; Administration finds that a company contributed to it's political rival, shortly afterwards company's internet connection is shut down for "security reasons". An individual is an activist for a rival party and uses internet connection to campaign against administration, internet connection is shutdown for security reasons. Now we have seen this administration use it's power to defraud bond investors in GM, selection of which dealerships survive and which fail, based on apparent political affiliation. Sorry, to much of an area for abuse, Rockefeller's bill needs to be defeated. This would give the Federal Government the ability to put anyone out of business that it disagrees with.
Good Question. But I think you jump over a salient question: is the private network used to transmit data vital to the nation's security. If the answer is "yes," then I think the answer to your question is also "yes." The problem you envision is a real one. Just as Bush ignored the requirements on wiretapping, another Bush could ignore any legal safeguards placed on the government's right to shut networks down. But that problem needs to be solved by starting to elect Presidents who think they are servants, not masters - highly unlikely, I suppose.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
-
The president should have the power to defend the country. If we can be attacked by enemies through our networks, than the government has to have some means of defending against such attacks. Is it entirely probably that such a power will be abused for entirely political reasons? Yes, it is. But that is an argument for keeping people out of power who might wish to do that, not to leave the country defenseless against the very same kind of people.
Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.
-
Good Question. But I think you jump over a salient question: is the private network used to transmit data vital to the nation's security. If the answer is "yes," then I think the answer to your question is also "yes." The problem you envision is a real one. Just as Bush ignored the requirements on wiretapping, another Bush could ignore any legal safeguards placed on the government's right to shut networks down. But that problem needs to be solved by starting to elect Presidents who think they are servants, not masters - highly unlikely, I suppose.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
Conceivably any network can carry vital information. Routers dynamically route packets through out the internet. They case can be made that every network is vital. But the article does not get into criteria of what an internal threat or vulnerable network is.
-
I saw this article[^], and combined with how this administration leverages it's powers towards political ends I find it chilling. Scenario of abuse; Administration finds that a company contributed to it's political rival, shortly afterwards company's internet connection is shut down for "security reasons". An individual is an activist for a rival party and uses internet connection to campaign against administration, internet connection is shutdown for security reasons. Now we have seen this administration use it's power to defraud bond investors in GM, selection of which dealerships survive and which fail, based on apparent political affiliation. Sorry, to much of an area for abuse, Rockefeller's bill needs to be defeated. This would give the Federal Government the ability to put anyone out of business that it disagrees with.
kmg365 wrote:
Rockefeller's bill needs to be defeated.
The Rockefellers have had blood on their hands for over a century. If a Rockefeller is involved then your probably need to take a close look at whats going on. That is no conspiracy theory.
-
Well, frankly, even so, it is a rather trivial concern considering that the entire consitution has been turned into an instrument for acquiring and centralizing power for nearly an entire century now. The federal government can do pretty much whatever it wants to you and it certainly doesn't need power over any network to achieve that.
Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.
-
Conceivably any network can carry vital information. Routers dynamically route packets through out the internet. They case can be made that every network is vital. But the article does not get into criteria of what an internal threat or vulnerable network is.
kmg365 wrote:
They case can be made that every network is vital
Isn't that why God invented firewalls? Or were you thinking more of the backbones? I suspect that the DoD has always regretted letting DARPANET get away from them. This may be an attempt to drag the horse back into the barn before locking it.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
-
The president should have the power to defend the country. If we can be attacked by enemies through our networks, than the government has to have some means of defending against such attacks. Is it entirely probably that such a power will be abused for entirely political reasons? Yes, it is. But that is an argument for keeping people out of power who might wish to do that, not to leave the country defenseless against the very same kind of people.
Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.
-
Good Question. But I think you jump over a salient question: is the private network used to transmit data vital to the nation's security. If the answer is "yes," then I think the answer to your question is also "yes." The problem you envision is a real one. Just as Bush ignored the requirements on wiretapping, another Bush could ignore any legal safeguards placed on the government's right to shut networks down. But that problem needs to be solved by starting to elect Presidents who think they are servants, not masters - highly unlikely, I suppose.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
-
kmg365 wrote:
Rockefeller's bill needs to be defeated.
The Rockefellers have had blood on their hands for over a century. If a Rockefeller is involved then your probably need to take a close look at whats going on. That is no conspiracy theory.