Just read about this proposed senate bill. Knowing we have some resident experts on hand I thought I'd ask, is it even possible to shut down the internet? If so, wouldn't that cause even more problems?




http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Cybersecurity_Act_seeks_broad_powers_0413.html

Scary huh?

Not only does it give broad sweeping unlimited powers to the President, you can be sure he will pass those powers down to an
"Internet Czar".

This is a law that is plain stupid. Shut the internet down instead of shutting down access to sites that are being attacked, yeah ok that makes sense to someone. Just not me.

How much did the taxpayers spend last year to guard against "internet attacks" ?

Hey, Al Gore invented the Internet, let him figure out how to secure it.

Er, the Internet is a whole lot bigger than the little bit of the super information highway ring road based in North America. Closing down that small part of the information highway only really serves just to keep the drivers using that little bit of the super information highway ill informed about what would be going on in the rest of the highway. But then again maybe thats the idea behind that proposed piece of legislation.

They already have major traffic light operations on the super information superhighway on the borders with China only allowing compliant information to pass through those traffic lights.



From the perspective of the average user using the internet then the answer is Yes. A US Government official would just tell the compliant ISPs (under threat of being prosecuted under the new law) to drop their customers connections and then refuse those reconnections at the ISPs Remote Access Servers.

Yep, basically hold the legitimate ISP owners/operators hostage with legal threats, then any traffic left on the net gets hunted down and the servers get slammed by the feds.

so, PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER.; control of information. Ah, I have SERIOUS issues with this...

Maybe I am lacking in imagination, but could someone describe a scenario where shutting down the Internet would be a benefit?

Nope. No such scenario exists. Shutting down the Internet would just be wrong. Wrong!

Only if we are truly afraid of "Skynet" Then shutting it down might be for the greater good. See T3

Garleydog,

Your nephew has been online 12 hours straight.
the once pristine keyboard is full of peanut butter and strawberry jam, m&m shrapnel only an afternoon over an anthill can clean and he's talking in gibberish about blogs and other words you at first take to be Anglo Saxon.
His eyesite has been irrevocably damaged and carpel tunnel syndrome in his wrists.All this and he can't even vote or drink yet.

You discover hidden files popping up with some Delilah dancing
for him, your own security protocals overridden and some ukrainian hacker is probably poised to take control of what is left.

And THAT is when the internet needs to be shut down and sling shots sent as a cultural stimulus plan to every household across America.

Of course. I forgot about Cyberdyne Systems.