Bill would give president emergency control of Internet

Quoted from CNET News

Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.

They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.

The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.
"I think the redraft, while improved, remains troubling due to its vagueness," said Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, which counts representatives of Verizon, Verisign, Nortel, and Carnegie Mellon University on its board. "It is unclear what authority Sen. Rockefeller thinks is necessary over the private sector. Unless this is clarified, we cannot properly analyze, let alone support the bill."

Representatives of other large Internet and telecommunications companies expressed concerns about the bill in a teleconference with Rockefeller's aides this week, but were not immediately available for interviews on Thursday.
A spokesman for Rockefeller also declined to comment on the record Thursday, saying that many people were unavailable because of the summer recess. A Senate source familiar with the bill compared the president's power to take control of portions of the Internet to what President Bush did when grounding all aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001. The source said that one primary concern was the electrical grid, and what would happen if it were attacked from a broadband connection.

When Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce committee, and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced the original bill in April, they claimed it was vital to protect national cybersecurity. "We must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs--from our water to our electricity, to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records," Rockefeller said.

The Rockefeller proposal plays out against a broader concern in Washington, D.C., about the government's role in cybersecurity. In May, President Obama acknowledged that the government is "not as prepared" as it should be to respond to disruptions and announced that a new cybersecurity coordinator position would be created inside the White House staff. Three months later, that post remains empty, one top cybersecurity aide has quit, and some wags have begun to wonder why a government that receives failing marks on cybersecurity should be trusted to instruct the private sector what to do.

Rockefeller's revised legislation seeks to reshuffle the way the federal government addresses the topic. It requires a "cybersecurity workforce plan" from every federal agency, a "dashboard" pilot project, measurements of hiring effectiveness, and the implementation of a "comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy" in six months--even though its mandatory legal review will take a year to complete.

The privacy implications of sweeping changes implemented before the legal review is finished worry Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. "As soon as you're saying that the federal government is going to be exercising this kind of power over private networks, it's going to be a really big issue," he says.

Probably the most controversial language begins in Section 201, which permits the president to "direct the national response to the cyber threat" if necessary for "the national defense and security." The White House is supposed to engage in "periodic mapping" of private networks deemed to be critical, and those companies "shall share" requested information with the federal government. ("Cyber" is defined as anything having to do with the Internet, telecommunications, computers, or computer networks.)

"The language has changed but it doesn't contain any real additional limits," EFF's Tien says. "It simply switches the more direct and obvious language they had originally to the more ambiguous (version)...The designation of what is a critical infrastructure system or network as far as I can tell has no specific process. There's no provision for any administrative process or review. That's where the problems seem to start. And then you have the amorphous powers that go along with it."

Translation: If your company is deemed "critical," a new set of regulations kick in involving who you can hire, what information you must disclose, and when the government would exercise control over your computers or network.

The Internet Security Alliance's Clinton adds that his group is "supportive of increased federal involvement to enhance cyber security, but we believe that the wrong approach, as embodied in this bill as introduced, will be counterproductive both from an national economic and national secuity perspective."

Temp in Fallbrook CA

The Temp according to the weather bureau it is 75 degrees in Fallbrook
According to my thermometer it is 94 degrees in the shade and 100 degrees in the sun
Time for them to get with the program

Truly Proud to be an American. This will warm your heart

I received this Email and just had to share it

Subject: No Apologies Accepted - Worth the time to read.....




At a time when our president and other politicians tend to

apologize for our

country's prior actions, here's a refresher on how some of

our former

patriots handled negative comments about our country.





JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the

early 60's when

DeGaule decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaule said he

wanted all US military

out of France as soon as possible.

Rusk responded "does that include those who are buried

here?

DeGaule did not respond.



You could have heard a pin drop









When in England , at a fairly large conference, Colin

Powell was asked by

the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were

just an example of

empire building by George Bush.

He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States

has sent many of

its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for

freedom beyond

our borders. The only amount of land we have ever

asked for in return is

enough to bury those that did not return.'





You could have heard a pin drop.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



There was a conference in France where a number of

international engineers were taking part, including

French and American. During a break, one of the

French engineers came back into the room saying 'Have you

heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier

to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to

do, bomb them?' A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our

carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred

people;

they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to

shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000

people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh

water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for

use

in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We

have eleven such ships; how many does France have?'





You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~







A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that

included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French

Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large

group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries.

Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a

French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages,

Americans learn only English. He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have

to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, 'Maybe

it's because the Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so

you wouldn't have to speak German.'





You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~







AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...

Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in

Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his

passport in his carry on."You have been to France before, monsieur?" the

customs

officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France

previously. "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."

The American said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have

to show it." "Impossible. Americans always have to show

your passports on arrival in France !"

The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard

look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach

on

D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single

Frenchmen to show a passport to."



You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



If you are proud to be an American, pass this on! If not,

delete it.



I am proud to be of this land, AMERICA

Wake up and Smell the Roses

When will you wake up and see what's going on in this country. Is it true that the FCC Advisor for Pres. Obama wants to tax privately held readio stations 100 % of their operating costs (effectively putting them out of business) to support public broadcasting. Well that is what I have heard. What this will do is succeed in eliminating all privately help radio stations leaving only Public stations Thus leaving 100 % of the news in the control of the Gov't. Does that scare you yet. They also want to censor all communications and commercials before they air. No one will be able to speak their minds, if they are not pro government.Well I think you had better wake up and take a look around and see what it is that the government is up to . We are still a republic of free people, but if things keep going the way that they are we will soon be a completely Socialist Country  with little or no freedoms. I for one will not take that laying down. Look at what's going on with the CIA. Look at what's going on the Universal Healthcare. How many bills have our congressmen and Senators voted on and passed without even reading them. I for one don't know, but if current history (The Bailout, Cap and Trade, The Universal Health Care) (almost made it))  the list goes on and on. If this is any indication, it may have been happening for a very long time. Are you ready to give up your freedoms? Do you still want to hear differing opinions and be able to make up your own minds as to what's best for you and this country. Then WAKE UP. Start raising hell. Tell you congressmen and representatives that you want our country back and to knock this bull off.. Tell them to get back to OUR business and not what they think is best for us.

Democratic Majority

Will the Govornor of Mass. Grant Ted Kennedy's wish and put saside the 5 month moretoreum on a replacement for him and appoint a new Senator in his place immediatley?

My thought on Terrorism

I received this email and thought it matched my feeling almost exactly. So I thought I'd share it with you
"
This was written by a Canadian woman, but oh how it also applies to the
U.S., U..K.. and Australia


Written by a housewife in New Brunswick , to her local newspaper. This is one ticked off lady.

'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001 and have continually threatened to do so since?

Were people from all over the world, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan , across the Potomac from the nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania ?

Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a few Taliban were claiming to be tortured by a justice system of the nation they come from and are fighting against in a brutal insurgency.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere belief of which is a crime punishable by beheading in Afghanistan .

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Afghanistan come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques and behind women and children.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of
nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the Canadian media stops pretending that their freedom of speech on stories is more important than the lives of the soldiers on the ground or their families waiting at home to hear about them when something happens.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a CANADIAN soldier roughing up an Insurgent terrorist to obtain information, know this:

I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank:

I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and 'fed special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts:

I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled 'Koran' and other times 'Quran.' Well, Jimmy Crack Corn you guessed it,

I don't care!!

If you agree with this viewpoint, pass this on to all your E-mail friends. Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior!

If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country! And may I add:

'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world.. But, the Soldiers don't have that problem.'

I have another quote that I would like to add, AND.......I hope you forward all this.

One last thought for the day:

Only five defining forces have ever offered to die for you:

1 Jesus Christ

2 The British Soldier.

3 The Canadian Soldier.

4. The US Soldier, and

5 The Australian Soldier

One died for your soul, the other 4 for your freedom."