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Say No To a Government Internet "Kill Switch"

GMGruman writes "In the name of national security, the feds are considering a law that would let the government turn off the Internet — or at least order broadband providers and ISPs to disable access. InfoWorld blogger Bill Snyder explains why this is a bad idea. Does the US really want to be like China or Iran?"

15 of 433 comments (clear)

  1. Does the U.S. really want to be like China or Iran by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes.

  2. What good is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    What good is a skype phone call Mr. Anderson ... if you are unable to speak.

  3. Re:Does the U.S. really want to be like China or I by boneclinkz · · Score: 4, Funny

    "What is it, General?"

    "Mister President, it's the Internet. We fear it's gone rogue. We lost contact with it yesterday, and our attempts to reestablish contact have failed."

    "You know what to do."

  4. "cyber 9/11" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "We cannot afford to wait for a cyber 9/11 before our government realizes the importance of protecting our cyber resources." -Olympia Snowe (R-Maine)

    It seems that members of the senate get access to some crazy-good weed... how high do you have to be to say "cyber 9/11"? WTF does "cyber 9/11" mean?? Are terrorists going to fly a plane into internet tubes and clog them?!

    1. Re:"cyber 9/11" by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 2, Funny

      "It'll be like 9/11 times one hundred."
      "Oh my God..."
      "Yes. Ninety-one Thousand, One Hundred."

      o_O

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    2. Re:"cyber 9/11" by GungaDan · · Score: 5, Funny

      Funny, I get 81.818181818.

      --
      Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
    3. Re:"cyber 9/11" by noidentity · · Score: 2, Funny

      Dude, it'd be terrible if virtual terrorists flew a virtual plane into a virtual building and caused thousands of virtual deaths of the virtual citizens. Imagine all the damage it would do to the economy of that virtual little world in there? We must protect these virtual people at all costs.

  5. Re:Isn't it obvious by Darkenole · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hmmmmm... Didn't you notice the Diploma ffrom the Hugo Chavez School of Governing on the Oval Office wall?

  6. A disruption in communications... by tekrat · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... Can only mean one thing: INVASION!

    Ah, Mr. Lucas, your ability to write dialog never ceases to amaze me... And yet, fully cognizant of the irony, I continue to quote from your films. What a loser I am.

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
  7. Re:Does the U.S. really want to be like China or I by Vectormatic · · Score: 2, Funny

    Inject Kurt Russel with some 24-hour timed explosive, give him some high tech gear and send him on a mission to the data-center?

    --
    People, what a bunch of bastards
  8. There's already a public Internet 'Kill Switch' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's called Comcast.

  9. Re:Does the U.S. really want to be like China or I by Saxerman · · Score: 4, Funny

    Snake Plissken? I heard he was dead.

    --

    A steaming cup of soykaf would be real wiz right now.

  10. Re:Does the U.S. really want to be like China or I by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 2, Funny

    The deciding factor was when we learned that china and iran were working along similar lines, and we were afraid of an internet killswitch gap.

    I know it's preposterous and the president would never approve of anything like this.

    --
    She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
  11. Re:To quote Bruce Schneier: by easterberry · · Score: 2, Funny

    Thank you! I too am getting tired of people claiming that anything you like and don't want to stop doing is "an addiction".

    For example. The fact that I play Team Fortress 2 a couple hours a day and get upset when it goes down doesn't make me addicted to it. It makes it an activity I enjoy doing with friends and do not like being deprived of. If I cut off all contact with the outside world, miss school and work to play and start selling my possessions to pay the internet bill so I can keep playing, THEN you can call me addicted.

    Part of the problem is this thing people keep trotting out that "THING X causes brain activity similar to people on cocaine". Yes. Cocaine directly stimulates the pleasure center of your brain. Anything you enjoy will cause this same reaction. Seeing a movie you like causes brain activity similar to being on cocaine. Finishing an assignment you've spent 3 weeks working on will cause brain activity similar to being on cocaine. Watching a dude wipe out of his skateboard then slide nut first down a rail will cause brain activity similar to being hit in the nuts among guys... followed by brain activity similar to being on cocaine. Dopamine is dopamine is dopamine.

  12. Re:Does the U.S. really want to be like China or I by BrokenHalo · · Score: 2, Funny

    If you can't be bothered reading the context, then don't bother posting.