On April 1 of this year, Senators Rockefeller, Snowe, Bayh and Nelson introduced bills S. 773 and S.778, collectively called the Cybersecurity Act, which would give President Obama dictatorial power over the Internet during a time of national crisis or emergency. According to the current drafts, under the Cyber Security Act of 2009 the President may "declare a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shut down of Internet traffic to and from any comprised federal government or United States critical infrastructure information system or network".
He may also "order the disconnection of any Federal Government or United States critical infrastructure information systems or networks in the interest of national security." What constitutes cybersecurity emergency" or "critical infrastructure information system or network" is left completely up to the President to define.
"We know that the Administration," according to Rahm Emanuel, "never wants a serious crisis to go to waste". We also know the Administration supports the regulation of free speech on the Internet.Obama campaign fundraiser and FCC Chair nominee, Julius Genachowski, is a supporter of "Net neutrality", the first step in applying the Fairness Doctrine to the Internet. "Net neutrality" proponents like Genachowski would have government decide what content Internet operators and network owners must provide. Incredibly, they claim this is to keep the Internet free and open to all, when in reality, their goal is to usher the heavy hands of federal regulators into the tent.
The Cybersecurity Act is also includes a provision where "The Department of Commerce shall serve as the clearinghouse of cybersecuirty threat and vulnerability information to the Federal Government and private sector owned (emphasis mine) critical infrastructure information systems and networks." "Shelving all privacy laws including the requirement for warrants, the Secretary of Commerce shall have access to all relevant data concerning such networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule or policy restricting such access."
Senator Rockefeller made it clear in his statement what relevant data" this act could include when he stated We must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs from our water to our electricity, to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records "the list goes on." While we have worried about cyber attacks from Russia and China, who would have thought the greatest threat would come from members of our own Congress.