New Senate Bill Proposes a Kill Switch for the Internet.

I think when you get arrested these days you should get one phone call, one Tweet and one Facebook update. ("Back in jail need bail LOLZ.") Our daily internet use has reached a saturation rate no one could have imagined twenty years ago.

Something else you can't imagine: The internet being turned off.

A new, daft--sorry, draft--U.S. Senate Bill is proposing that during a "cybersecurity emergency" the President should be able to "seize control of, or even shut down, portions of the internet," with broadband providers and search engines required to comply. (The entire 197-page document is available for download here.) If national security is at stake I'm not sure I can really argue against the motion, but unsurprisingly the bill is expected to stir up major debate and opposition.

Says one official, "We cannot afford to wait for a cyber 9/11 before our government realises the importance of protecting our cyber resources." The terrorists, it seems, hate our Facebook.

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