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Full-Text Articles in Law
Does The Communications Act Of 1934 Contain A Hidden Internet Kill Switch?, David W. Opderbeck
Does The Communications Act Of 1934 Contain A Hidden Internet Kill Switch?, David W. Opderbeck
David W. Opderbeck
A key area of debate over cybersecurity policy concerns whether the President should have authority to shut down all or part of the Internet in the event of a cyber-emergency or cyber-war. The proposed Cybersecurity Act of 2009, for example, contained what critics derided as an Internet “kill switch.” The current iteration of a comprehensive cybersecurity reform bill, the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, opts for a soft public-private contingency plan model instead of a kill switch. But the kill switch may yet live. Sponsors of the present legislation have argued that Section 606 of the Communications Act of 1934 already …
Cybersecurity And Executive Power, David W. Opderbeck
Cybersecurity And Executive Power, David W. Opderbeck
David W. Opderbeck
The article analyzes the Constitutional authority of the U.S. President to shut down or limit public access to the Internet in a time of national emergency. The threats posed by cybercrime, cyberwarfare, and cyberterrorism are significant. It is imperative that national governments and international policymakers develop defenses and contingency plans for such attacks. At the same time, the threats to civil liberties posed by current legislative cybersecurity proposals are equally real. Executive power to disrupt Internet access in the name of security can become as potent a weapon against democracy as a hacker’s attempt to take down the power grid. …