THE PRESIDENT MAY GET THE AUTHORITY TO KICK US ALL OFFLINE

[XGC Logan]

Source: http://kotaku.com/5567578/the-president-may-get-the-authority-to-kick-us-all-offline

As weird and scary as it sounds, there may be a time when you'll be able to blame your server going down on the current U.S. President instead of your internet provider.

A new U.S. Senate bill known as the "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset" Act, would enable the president to access a "kill-switch" that would essentially allow him/her to pull the plug on portions of the internet in a cyber security emergency. According to Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), "…we cannot afford to wait for a cyber 9/11 before our government realizes the importance of protecting our cyber resources."

What portions of the internet would this affect? That's up to Homeland Security, according to a report on the proposed bill from CNET. Essentially, any company that "relies on the internet, the telephone system, or any other component of the U.S. information infrastructure" could be required to operate under the command of the National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications (NCCC), a new division of Homeland Security that would be put into operation if the bill passes. These companies would be required to keep their security measures up to NCCC standards. If they chose not to abide by the emergency shut down procedures put in place, they would be subject to a fine.

For online gamers, this may seem to be an attack on our recreational time. In many cases, we are paying for the online services we utilize, such as Xbox Live or subscription games. In turn, we rely on them to run ‘round the clock (with the exception of regularly scheduled maintenance periods). If these networks were to all of a sudden go down for a lengthy period of time, would we get our money back? If we were at a pivotal point in our game, would our items and status at the time of the shut down be returned upon the server's revival?

It would be a nuisance more than anything else, especially seeing as many online games cannot be played offline (such as WoW, EVE, Guild Wars and EverQuest ). A compromise mentioned in the bill states that companies would be reimbursed for money lost while their networks were forced to go offline. However, in the midst of whatever crisis has caused the internet be shut down, the game networks themselves may lose subscribers, which would affect business in the long term.

Roping online game networks into this group of internet outlets that could be involved in a security breach if hacked may seem unfair, seeing as online gaming networks really don't leave their users room to store potentially valuable data, aside from perhaps credit card information (unless you count an item that drops .001% of the time that you desperately need to complete your gear set). Sure, they're social networking outlets as well. I suppose you could see a group of orcs or gnomes hanging out and argue that they could be real-life terrorists planning an attack, but it's unlikely that your speculation could be proven true. Gaming networks are not where the threat of national security compromise lies. People log on to them to play a game-to socialize, and nothing more.

The idea of disconnecting all of our nation's servers seems like a knee-jerk reaction, and perhaps too much power for one person to hold. A better idea might be to beef up security on the sites that truly do have sensitive information, allowing the plug to be pulled on those sites in the event of a "cyber emergency."

My only questions are what exactly could be considered a "cyber emergency" and what is the likelihood that such an event will actually occur?

 

[GREEEN TZU]

SEEMZ' MORE LIKE ANOTHER OUTLET..,

Seemz' more like another outlet..,

... or inlet for Big Brother to have access to the private livez' ov' the individual.
One would figure that that (Your topic.) would be something that the public (worldwide) should have a say in.
I would also presume that the government haz' the ability to SHUT DOWN all access to pertinent channalz' (Being government stuff.) ANYWAY. Hence the beginning ov' my reply.
Don't get me wrong, there iz' and alwayz' will be a need for interjection.
But like the saying goz', "Absolute power corruptz' absolutely."
Your statement', "Perhaps too much power for one person to hold and it being a nuisance." iz' and are the bottom line.
​

Have faith in the resistance. We will never say, ​

"QUIT OR DIE!"​

​

 

[syn me money]

its like the late george carlin said as americans we give up our freedom a little bit at a time for the false feeling of security. the government can not and will not ever be able to make the country completely safe or even terrorist free.. they could get rid of the internet completely and what would that do..... nothing besides quite possible causing a revalution.... anyway i am tired of losing the freedom given to me in the constitution so that these paranoid people can have a false sense of security i feel that giving up my rights for their satisfaction is unconstitutional and should not be allowed to continue ..... if u are really that worried about terrorists and such you should build an ungerground shelter and stock pile enough supplies to last the rest of your life and stay there until you die....... otherwise STFU and deal with it like the rest of us..... the day i cant merk face on MW2 because of a effin socialist in the white house is the day i will spam every member of xg and every other clan / community and we will stand up for ourselves and what is right.........sry im kinda rambleing but this stuff really gets me going i hate with the govenment wants to control the masses

 

[XGC DRUDLEMUD]

Why am I not surprised at any of this?

 

[Fleetleader]

Security vs. Freedom

I personally think that this would be used only in the most dire of events, but I dont agree that one man should have this much power.

from Regan-Today there has been a huge expansion the presidents power and it looks like this is just another step in that direction.

 

[SYN_BLUEDOG]

Im with you Fleetleader.