Internet 'killswitch'?

Presidential control over internet.

Wait, what? Presidential control over the internet? Yeah, a new senate bill proposes that the president has a sort of 'killswitch,' the ability to control or turn off parts of the internet, and block any traffic as well. With the bill, "any private company reliant on "the Internet, the telephone system, or any other component of the U.S. 'information infrastructure'" would be "subject to command"." Essentially, the president would be able to "declare a cybersecurity emergency," and have the "power to "order the disconnection" of certain networks or Web sites." (That was a brief summary, read more to find other articles)



So it may not seem like much now, 'so what if he can control it'? It adds up, though, as we add more radical and liberal ideas like this our thoughts will change. For example, right now some of us may not think this is very big, but eventually if this is passed we may soon see an implementation of even more radical ideas. If we give control over the internet away, the leap between the control over the internet and the control over something else (perhaps Cell phones or personal devices) won't be as great. It's like if you went to the store planning to buy a shirt for $15, then you see a better one for $16 and decide to buy it instead, since it's only a dollar away from the other one. Then you see one for $17 or $18, then you end up with one for $20. Whereas, if saw the $20 at the very first moment, you may not have considered it because it was too much compared to the $15 one, but after all the little steps in between, you end up at a place far from your initial intentions.

The bill claims that the killswitch is for times needing 'emergency measure or action....' When in the past have we had such a disaster affecting the nation and its cyberspace in a way that would require government regulation or shut down (seriously, comment if you know of any). Won't the internet aid in states of emergency? It now literally is an 'information highway,' and in times of emergency, many people will look to the internet for help and possibly even more importantly, for communication. How similar is this to China's internet censorship? How similar/close is this to an absolute rule? How much will be given up before people begin to question what is really going on, and even then, will it be too late?

So here we are. Nearly one step closer to dystopia, "1984, anyone (Chad)?" Orwell said this would happen.

More info is pending, but what do you guys think?

See this article on huffington post, or this article on CNET for more details.