Should Obama's 'internet kill switch' power be curbed?

Jeebizz · 11-24-2010, 10:44 PM

"Under a World War II-era law, the US president appears to have authority to disconnect computer systems and servers from the internet in the event of a national emergency. But the next US Congress is poised to change that."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11736545

mlangdn · 11-25-2010, 09:19 AM

The tech then is not the same tech now. And Obama needs no more power. He doesn't yet know how to use what he has.

kevinbenko · 11-25-2010, 01:13 PM

Hmmm...

Computer Geeks versus Government.

I'll put all of my money on the computer geeks.
Hell, in a worse-case scenario, I'll get my old packet-radio set up and running, and I'm sure I can get a repeater if I look hard enough.

honeybadger · 11-25-2010, 01:29 PM

I do not think there would be a switch like that. The computers are connected all across the world and he does not have the right to shut down the internet say for Rome.
We live in a digital world. Activating a switch like this would cause more problems than we would be facing in any circumstances. Even if he somehow manages to push the switch he would have a hell to explain why he did something like this.