Should President Obama Have The Power To Shut Down Domestic Internet Traffic During A State Of Emergency?

From The Belmont Club:

Steve Aquino at Mother Jones asks, “Should President Obama have the power to shut down domestic Internet traffic during a state of emergency? Senators John Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) think so.” I’ve highlighted what I think are the interesting passages in the article.

On Wednesday they introduced a bill to establish the Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor—an arm of the executive branch that would have vast power to monitor and control Internet traffic to protect against threats to critical cyber infrastructure. That broad power is rattling some civil libertarians. The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 (PDF) gives the president the ability to “declare a cybersecurity emergency” and shut down or limit Internet traffic in any “critical” information network “in the interest of national security.” The bill does not define a critical information network or a cybersecurity emergency. That definition would be left to the president.

Read more ....

My Comment: The present administration in the White House has already crossed a number of lines that have never been crossed by any previous U.S. Government. TARP money and control of banks. The firing of CEOs of major corporations. Limitations of pay and bonuses. Talk of a new Fairness doctrine.

Sigh .... closing the internet in a time of emergency. They would do it in a heartbeat.