Internet Kill Switch

Senator Joseph Lieberman has proposed the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act (PCNAA), a bill that would give the president the power to control or even shut down the Internet in emergency situations. Citing the need for cybersecurity, Lieberman said in a press release that the U.S.’s “economic security, national security and public safety are now all at risk from new kinds of enemies — cyber-warriors, cyber-spies, cyber-terrorists and cyber-criminals.”

So here's the story. Apparently there's still a massive audience that wants to control the internet. Or perhaps, a bunch of executives that are a bit out of touch with reality. How likely is your everyday joe to support this bill? I'm curious. A large part of me says not very likely. Why does the president need a global internet kill switch when he can already do the same thing to the single offending web site by sending a squad of trained professionals (See: Police) to deal with criminal offenders? And what about foreign countries? Why would any sane foreign country give the American president power over their internet?

The bill requires that U.S.-based companies such as Google and Yahoo, as well as broadband providers and software firms, comply with any and all measures that the government sees fit in an emergency.

Now, why does it need the individual web hosts to comply when the purpose of a kill switch meant to kill the internet should only, in theory, need to turn off the providers. If nobody provides the internet, it's down, right? I don't like the vague feeling I'm getting from this short summary of the bill. It seems like they're taking more control than they need in the first place. To host a website, will I have to fill out government paperwork in the future? Will I have to submit to big brother watching over my shoulder? Will free web hosting such as http://webs.com or http://www.piczo.com be a thing of the past due to it being too easy for violators of this new bill to use them for illegal purposes?

It kind of seems like it, from what I'm seeing. I oppose this bill, seeing as it seems rather shady and wanting more than it needs or deserves in terms of power.