US president will have power to SHUT DOWN INTERNET!

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Aren't the root DNS servers under U.S. control - meaning that the President of the United States could possibly shut down the DNS system, not the internet per se?

They can give him the "power", but they can't give him the ability. The FCC has the "power" to shut down all pirate radio stations, but they don't have the ability. The police have the "power" to keep people from speeding 100% of the time, but again, they don't have the ability.

The president could give an order for all ISPs in the US to go offline, but he can't tell the other countries to, and if he did, the U.N. would say "yea, no".

If the US president uses power over ICANN (completely in the US) to shut down the root DNS servers it's clear that the rest of the internet would coalesce outside of US control entirely...

there are probably 4 main portals out of the US (fiber lines, or somesuch), but there is an entire satellite network, phone lines (yes, some poor sods are still using modems, bless their hearts..
even radio signals, etc.

If countries like China (who have their 'legitimate' internet completely under state control), Saudi Arabia (probably the strictest censorship on the web, basically 'anything not permitted is forbidden'), and others don't have complete control over the web, in their own countries, then I don't see how the US Government could effectively shut down the internet.

If a network protocol (TCP/IP) was designed to be dispersed over several pathways, centralized control would be hard to effect.

And actually, the basis of power in the US (bear with me, all you conspiracy buffs), is the Constitution, not the Executive branch (as dubya found out to his sorrow). This comes pretty close to restrictions on Freedom of Speech, which would likely make it a slam dunk for the Supreme Court.

More control of the internet by governments is inevitable, but I doubt they'll ever get complete control.

I'm not asking for a debate on weather its real. Check the links that I posted. There on the congress website.

If you think this is a conspiracy then your not very informed. The links are from congress , if you don't believe then click the links . That's your proof.

Just read the bill and if you think its a good idea, then let it go through. But if not then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

ok...postulated...that the US President can 'push the button', and bring down every single bit of Internet in the US.

As they used to say in the early days of the Internet, the Internet sees censorship as damage, and routes around it.

What would happen, would be the rest of the world would just 'lock us out', and carry on as if nothing had happened (granted, most of the Star Trek and pr0n sites would go down, but...they'd get over it...

But, in the meantime, the economy would screech to a halt. You wouldn't be able to use a credit or debit card, do research, take online classes, and a lot of people wouldn't be able to use phone, twitter, and whatever cute little technologies we've come up with in the last few years.

Without the Internet, Obama might have lost. I still stand by the premise that the case would be a slam dunk under the First Amendment. Most folks in Congress know that.

Taking that all into account, I'm pretty sure the Government has a hidden hand on the Internet, no matter where in the world you are. I'm sure they record, analyze, spy, and take notes on anything that's 'suspicious'. Probably not in the ways they did prior to Jan 19th, but these days, 'gentlemen do read each other's mail'.

Roxas_XIII You are right . This bill does not give the power to completely shut down the internet.

I knew that from the start but made it seem that way so more people would pay attention to what is going on in our country. specifically these 2 bills.

I should not have done that. In doing so I took the attention away from the bill itself. It made people focus on showing me I was wrong and I became focused on proving i was right.

I let my ego that the wheel and I'm sorry.

I am concerned with this bill because it is another step closer to further erosion of our liberties.

I cannot show you a single thing that proves this is happening. This is because it is many different things happening gradually over time.

I apologize for my ego and leave you with some quotes to help explain myself.

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.
Abraham Lincoln

My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.
Abraham Lincoln

Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors.
Abraham Lincoln

No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.
Abraham Lincoln

To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men.
Abraham Lincoln

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.
Abraham Lincoln

We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.
Abraham Lincoln

With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.
Abraham Lincoln

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.
Abraham Lincoln

"No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent. "

Votes are meant to entitle a person to do so, do they not? <.<