Could Egypt Happen Here? Obama's Internet "Kill Switch"

[harvey007]

Source: Fast Company

First it was Facebook. Then it was Twitter. Now, in the face of massive protests in the streets of Cairo and throughout the country, Egypt has pulled the plug on the entire Internet for its citizens. As this chart from Arbor networks shows, Internet traffic mounted steadily in Egypt steadily over several days, then suddenly and precipitously dropped to nil at 5:20 PM EST yesterday.

The US has condemned the move--in a tweet, no less.

Such a flagrant violation of communications--possible only in the less free corners of the world, right? But since last summer, when a Senate bill was introduced by Joe Lieberman, the US has been considering an Internet "kill switch" of its own. Full text of the bill, "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset," can be found here. "For all of its 'user-friendly' allure, the Internet can also be a dangerous place with electronic pipelines that run directly into everything from our personal bank accounts to key infrastructure to government and industrial secrets," Lieberman said in June.

Read more: http://www.fastcompany.com/1721753/egypt-internet-kill-switch