The President […] may order the disconnection of any Federal Government or United States critical infrastructure information systems or networks in the interest of national security;
The new bill says:
The President […] in the event of an immediate threat […] may declare a cybersecurity emergency; and may, if the President finds it necessary for the national defense and security, and in coordination with relevant industry sectors, direct the national response to the cyber threat and the timely restoration of the affected critical infrastructure information system or network;
And alongside that authority, there still appears to be murky language that would permit the President to [b]shut down the Internet[/b].
What the bill really says is that Government entities or networks deemed to be of critical national significance can be disconnected from the internet.
The internet was designed to be fully redundant and relies on an infrastrucure oputside the control and authority of a single entity. If the USA decided to throw a hissy fit, pick up their ball and go home, the internet would simply say “bye bye” and continue to operate without them. This is a case of “exaggerate to clarify” and there would obviously be implications and other impacts.
I’d like to see how the rest of the world would respond if they could turn off the internet.
Yes, the wording of the Bill needs to be clarified and refined, but so do the words of EFF.
