Weekend Gedankenexperiment - The Kill Switch

Fri Feb 4 05:32:07 UTC 2011

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On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 9:27 PM, Mark Newton <newton at internode.com.au>
wrote:

>
> On 04/02/2011, at 3:43 PM, Paul Ferguson wrote:
>
>> On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 9:09 PM, Mark Newton <newton at internode.com.au>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> On 04/02/2011, at 2:13 PM, Jay Ashworth wrote:
>>>
>>>> An armed FBI special agent shows up at your facility and tells your
>>>> ranking manager to "shut down the Internet".
>>>
>>> Turn off the room lights, salute, and shout, "Mission Accomplished."
>>> The FBI dude with the gun won't know the difference.
>>>
>>
>> No. The correct answer is that in the U.S., if the Agent in question has
>> a valid subpoena or N.S.L., you must comply.
>
> Subpoenas and NSLs are used to gather information, not to shut down
> telcos.  They're just an enforceable request for records.
>
> Considering that politicians in the US have suggested that they need
> "kill switch" legislation passed before they can do it, and further
> considering that "kill switch" legislation doesn't currently exist,
> what lawful means do you anticipate an FBI special agent to rely on
> in making such a request?
>
> I'm not actually in the US.  In a question arising from the Egypt
> demonstrations earlier this week, Australia's Communications Minister
> said he didn't think the law as written at the moment provided the
> government with the lawful ability to shut down telecommunications
> services.
> http://delimiter.com.au/2011/02/03/no-internet-kill-switch-for-australia-
> says-conroy/
>

I share your sentiment.

One of the best commentaries I have read lately on this issue was earlier
today:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/government/ive-changed-my-mind-america-must-never
- -allow-an-internet-kill-switch-heres-why/9982

Worth a quick read.

- - ferg

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-- 
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawgster(at)gmail.com
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/