Destroying the First Amendment

With the Fairness Doctrine still alive in both houses of Congress and the new FCC Diversity (not to be called) czar glowing about Chavez, the Dictator in Venenzula, and his "glorious" revolution including takeover of the media; the First Amendment to the United States Constitution is now being threatened again. I already did some discussion on the Fairness Doctrine and Czar Lloyd. The Fairness Doctrine to obvious and Lloyd to radical (maybe), the Senate has introduced new bills to give the government power to control the internet, including shutting down whatever the President determines to be critical. Senate Bill 773 was introduced by Sen Rockefeller and would give the federal government control over "cyberspace" in the name of "security" and "protection" of privacy. This bill also creates a large bureaucracy (nothing new) that will answer directly to the President. The President also will determine all state, local and non-governmental networks to be considered critical and thus able to be shut down by executive order. SB 773 also will set standards to be included in ALL software and hardware to reduce the risk of cyber attack and even pay for students to study cyber security. All students enrolled in computer classes will be reported and tracked by the government. All professionals in the cyber field will have to be nationally licensed and certified by the government. Programs will be developed in grades K-12 to seek out promising students in this area. SB 773 also supports an annual contest for students where top prize can not exceed, are you ready for this, $5,000,000. Yes, $5,000,000! Additionally, they will create a federal registry of "secure" domain names and the President gets to ensure compliance. If TORT laws effecting health insurance were not bad enough, the government will create a system of civil liability and insurance related to cyber security and will use cyber security to effect bond ratings. The government will also develop a program of identity management and authentication, with "appropriate" civil liberties. Not only does the President have the power to shut down federal and "critical" networks on a self declared cyber emergency, he also is given the power to disconnect those same networks in the name of national security.

If SB 773 wasn't bad enough, another bill was introduced into the Senate, this one is Senate Bill 778, also by Sen. Rockefellar. This bill gives the President the power to appoint a cyber advisor, at least the Senate was smart enough to make sure they got to confirm this appointment. This advisor will have full access to all special access programs, kinda sounds like a spy program to me. This advisor will also be allowed to grant/determine security clearance. The part that really helps centralize power within the White House, it allows the cyber advisor to the power to utilize resources of any other department and assign the HEAD of any agency or entity the performance of duties incidental to the administration of laws of the United States.

These bill seriously threaten our First Amendment right to free speech. It puts the power to shutdown the internet in an emergency. The wording of the bill is what makes the infringement possible. The bill will protect federal systems and whatever the President deems critical to national security. There could be shutdowns and even disconnection in the event of a cyber emergency or for national security. This is just another attempt to curb free speech and have the ability to shut down any voice of opposition. Another left wing grab at a liberty protected by the Constitution. Contact your Senators and tell them to vote this down. We already have departments and laws regulating computers, the internet and cyber security, this is simply an attempt to consolidate more power in the executive branch. We can not allow more attacks on our personal freedoms.