Hallelujah, They Got One Right

The 2011 Cybersecurity Freedom Act -- proposed by senators Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent; Susan Collins of Maine; and Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat -- is almost identical to the legislation the senators introduced in June with two exceptions.

The bill adds language that forbids the president from shutting down the Internet during a national crisis. It also permits owners of major computer systems deemed as critical infrastructure, and therefore subject to Homeland Security Department regulations, to appeal their status in federal court.

I will give the benefit of the doubt and assume this was not ever intended to keep citizens from information.  I read about this today in several sources, some of which conflict, so keep that in mind if you read up on this.  It is my understanding that the power granted to "flip the switch" could have lasted from 30-90 days, which is way too long.  If we were under a major cyber attack, I could see an hour or two while our best and brightest did what they could, but a period of several days looks to me like an effort to keep us out of the loop for long enough to do something hideous and put a spin on it before we were allowed access to the information. 

This may have looked like a good idea to some, but with trust in government at an all-time low, this was not the time to introduce the power to restrict our access to a network that millions of Americans use daily.  If we had this policy in place, it would also be an invitation to black hatters everywhere.  I realize this doesn't mean that the risk of cyber attack is not there, it just means we need to address it in a different way.