Bach Seat

There is a great hub-bub in the blog-o-sphere about the new “Internet Kill Switch.” If one reads the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010, (S. 3480) which the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously approved which in part says:

If the President determines there is a credible threat to exploit cyber vulnerabilities of the covered critical infrastructure, the President may declare a national cyber emergency, with notification to Congress and owners and operators of affected covered critical infrastructure. The notification must include the nature of the threat, the reason existing security measures are deficient, and the proposed emergency measures needed to address the threat. If the President exercises this authority, the Director of the NCCC will issue emergency measures necessary to preserve the reliable operation of covered critical infrastructure. Any emergency measures issued under this section will expire after 30 days unless the Director of the NCCC or the President affirms in writing that the threat still exists or the measures are still needed.

Sponsor of the proposed Act Senator Joe Lieberman (I- CT) recently told CNN‘s Candy Crowley about whether the proposed Act was an “Internet Kill Switch”,

” … total misinformation.,,, We need the capacity for the president to say, Internet service provider, we’ve got to disconnect the American Internet from all traffic coming in from another foreign country …  This is a matter of national security. A cyber attack on America can do as much or more damage today by incapacitating our banks, our communications, our finance, our transportation, as a conventional war attack.  So I say to my friends on the Internet, relax… take a look at the bill. And this is something that we need to protect our country.”

Lieberman goes on to say that the U.S should do this because China does, “Right now, China, the government, can disconnect parts of its Internet in a case of war. We need to have that here, too.”

If one takes a closer look at the existing laws, the President already has a kill switch. Section 706 of The Communications Act of 1934 (last amended in 1996) says in part,

Upon proclamation by the President that there exists a state or threat of war involving the United States, the President, if he deems it necessary in the interest of the national security …   may designate, (1) suspend or amend the rules and regulations applicable to any or all facilities or stations for wire communication within the jurisdiction of the United States as prescribed by the Commission, (2) cause the closing of any facility or station for wire communication and the removal therefrom of its apparatus and equipment, or (3) authorize the use or control of any such facility or station and its apparatus and equipment by any department of the Government under such regulations as he may prescribe, upon just compensation to the owners. (emphasis added)

Big tech firms support the proposed “Internet Kill Switch.”  McAfee’s vice president for government relations called the  Lieberman Bill a “very important piece of legislation.” Big tech firms get several benefits for their support of the bill which has language that will give them immunity from civil lawsuits and also reimburse them for any costs incurred if the Internet is shut down for a time. The legislation provides tech firms with new protections for their poor business practices. If a software company’s programming error costs customers billions, or a broadband provider intentionally cuts off its customers in response to a federal command, neither would be liable according to the bill.

Declan McCullagh at CNET writes that if there’s an “incident related to a cyber vulnerability” after the President has declared an emergency and the affected company has followed federal standards, plaintiffs’ lawyers cannot collect damages for economic harm. And if the harm is caused by an emergency order from the Feds, not only does the possibility of damages virtually disappear but the U.S. will even bail out the firms.

Rep. Jane Harman, (Dem – CA) has introduced a House version of the bill, H.R. 5548,, but it has not yet passed the committee.

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There does not seem to be any language in the Lieberman bill to retract the Kill Switch in the Telecom Act, so Lieberman is right that his bill does bot include a “kill switch” because it has been in place for over 75 years. This is just another example of Washington’s double-talk.

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.