Groups Warn New Cybersecurity Bill Oversteps

Ties in with other current stories

1. The threat of multinational cyberattacks on the U.S. power grid - ComputerWorld's 'Power grid hackers probably got inside by attacking PCs, says researcher', http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewA... - Further ongoing news and analyses of this subject

2. This story 'Groups Warn New Cybersecurity Bill Oversteps', covering the possibility of U.S. President Obama mandating severe ISP restrictions in times of national crises.

3. Cloud computing - 'Cloud Prospecting: The Search for Gold in a Silver Mine', linked to via LXer at http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/118535 - 'A Cloudy Future', linked to via LXer at http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/118507

One obvious point is that Cloud computing, however much it's hyped, relies upon Internet access. A concern about further cyberattacks besides those directed against the U.S. power grid could certainly dampen future cloud-development prospects, albeit in the indirect manner of the possibility of mandating Internet stoppages.

"Government over-reacts, causes 'unintended' consequences."

This is applicable to everything government does.

I'm more worried about the blogger who, while out of town, had a raid on his home where the cops took his computers and all backups, because he was blogging about the cops.

http://tinyurl.com/d73nb8

Interesting, although I'm sure he was using Windows.

Bob_R you beat me to it. What OS where they running? Who were the admins that let this happen? How long before helios will have a post telling us the nifty solution was Linux?

"Terrorism is an act of the weak. But so is walking through the airport in our socks."

What a delightful irony.

I always believed that the Net was founded partly through US govt funding because the Powers That Be were concerned that communications could be disrupted during times of war by Foreign Powers.

Of course, the citizens of roughly 150 countries throughout the world, including (occasionally) we here in Oz, regard the US as a Foreign Power.

But why wait for war when you've got $DEITY on your side.

Quoting:we here in Oz, regard the US as a Foreign Power

Indeed.

> I always believed that the Net was founded partly through US govt funding because the Powers That Be were concerned that communications could be disrupted during times of war by Foreign Powers.

Some small quantities of funding were used by various universities in the US when people were coming up with the ideas of routing, universal addressing, etc.

But the people developing the ideas, in my opinion, would have come up with them anyway, because they wanted to share ideas and needed a "level playing field" to transfer data.

It wasn't until 1993 when the US Gov dropped their non-commercial and other regulation that "the Internet" really started to take off. We cannot know what might have been if those regulations had not retarded deployment as long as they did.

> ...we here in Oz, regard the US as a Foreign Power.

As well you should.

@jd, mind you that's the citizenry, the leaders of our governments seem to regard the US as the head prefect who had it off with them behind the bike sheds, as they seem more than willing to bend over and hold their ankles for Uncle Sam.

Quoting:the leaders of our governments seem to regard the US as the head prefect ...

Not only your governments, sadly.

> ...the leaders of our governments...

You have my sympathy on the matter. I'd say it's time for new leadership, but if it's like here, the choices you're provided somehow always seem to end up with the same policies. :{

But if you don't go along with us, we'll retaliate. For instance, the stubborn French don't like to do things our way, so we changed french fries to freedom fries. They learned their lesson.

> the choices your provided somehow always seem to end up with the same policies.

Because the ones offering the choices are the same people.

It doesn't take a conspiracy theory to know that only "acceptable" candidates are presented for election.