Is An Internet Kill Switch America's Sputnik Moment?

Much was made in the media about Obama's State of the Union speech during which he declared this to be America's Sputnik Moment.

Isn't it ironic then that our elected officials in Washington celebrated by proposing to offer Obama complete control over a so-called internet kill switch.

Legislation granting the president internet-killing powers is to be re-introduced soon to a Senate committee, the proposal’s chief sponsor told Wired.com on Friday.

The resurgence of the so-called “kill switch” legislation came the same day Egyptians faced an internet blackout designed to counter massive demonstrations in that country.

The bill, which has bipartisan support, is being floated by Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican ranking member on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The proposed legislation, which Collins said would not give the president the same power Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak is exercising to quell dissent, sailed through the Homeland Security Committee in December but expired with the new Congress weeks later.

The bill is designed to protect against “significant” cyber threats before they cause damage, Collins said.

There's just one problem here. The internet was designed as a response to America's Sputnik Moment over half a century ago.

The sole purpose of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) was to find ways to address the US military's concern about survivability of their communications networks, which at that time, meant surviving a nuclear war.

This bill is not about protection. It's about social control. The internet shut down in Egypt is not in response to a cyber attack against the government. It's in response to protests against the government.

That's a huge difference. And a scary one in a "free" society.

My advice is to purchase a global satellite phone and a Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) terminal.