[LINK] 'kill switch' bill passes US Senate Committee
Stilgherrian
stil at stilgherrian.com
Sat Jun 26 09:53:39 AEST 2010
Calling this US legislation a "kill switch" is misleading. There are no new powers, and indeed the legislation would give POTUS the ability to take a more graduated course of action.
SANS director Alan Paller said this in a recent editorial, reproduced at "Information Week":
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/06/theres_no_new_i.html
There is no kill switch in the Lieberman-Collins Bill
(formally known as Protecting Cyberspace as a National
Asset Act, S. 3480). But there is one already on the books
in the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
The Lieberman-Collins bill just authorizes standard
filtering like that done by ISPs every day, but in a
nationally-coordinated fashion. The only kill switch
appears to be in Sec. 706(c) of the 1996
Telecommunications Act, that already gives the President
the power in a time of national security emergency to shut
down or disrupt internet traffic. The Lieberman Collins
Bill is much more measured and effective.
The relevant sections of both bills are provided below.
Read them yourself. The press has been totally fooled by
IT and telephone company lobbyists, and by an incorrect
article from a CNET reporter (I wonder who gave him the
incorrect data). That false press report got repeated over
and over.
If you are a journalist, next time you hear one of the
lobbyists talk about "unintended consequences" and "kill
switches" remember how the car companies tried to block
mandatory seat belts by saying "your wives and children
will die in car fires because the seat belts will keep
them from getting out of their cars in time." And you
might consider recalling the immortal words of Garrison
Keillor, "Liar, liar, pants on fire."
The legislation itself is at:
http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=42926cbe-76fd-4eeb-a08b-d7838a4aae8f
Section 248 is what you're after:
If the President issues a declaration under paragraph (1),
the Director shall-
(A) immediately direct the owners and operators of covered
critical infrastructure subject to the declaration under
paragraph (1) to implement response plans required under
section 248(b)(2)(C);
(B) develop and coordinate emergency measures or actions
necessary to preserve the reliable operation, and mitigate
or remediate the consequences of the potential disruption,
of covered critical infrastructure;
(C) ensure that emergency measures or actions directed
under this section represent the least disruptive means
feasible to the operations HEN10601 S.L.C. of the covered
critical infrastructure and to the national information
infrastructure;
(D) subject to subsection (g), direct actions by other
Federal agencies to respond to the national cyber
emergency;
(E) coordinate with officials of State and local
governments, international partners of the United States,
owners and operators of covered critical infrastructure
specified in the declaration, and other relevant private
section entities to respond to the national cyber
emergency;
(F) initiate a process under section 248 to address the
cyber risk that may be exploited by the national cyber
emergency; and
(G) provide voluntary technical assistance, if requested,
under section 242(f)(1)(S)."
Section 706(c) of the 1996 Telecommunications Act:
Upon proclamation by the President that there exists war
or a threat of war, or a state of public peril or disaster
or other national emergency, or in order to preserve the
neutrality of the United States, the President, if he
deems it necessary in the interest of national security or
defense, may suspend or amend, for such time as he may see
fit, the rules and regulations applicable to any or all
stations or devices capable of emitting electromagnetic
radiations within the jurisdiction of the United States.
Stil, a "kill switch" sounds ever so dramatic, doesn't it...
Stil
--
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