The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 (S. 773)

Presidential Internet Kill Switch May Still Be Alive

By Editor
Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe originally introduced the Cybersecurity Bill of 2009 to howls of protest over a provision in the legislation that would give the president the unprecedented authority to shut down the Internet for national security reasons. Rockefeller and Snowe retreated and redrafted but still left the issue much in doubt.

For a bill that has yet to have a public hearing, much less faced a single vote, the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 (S. 773) remains the most controversial technology-related legislation before the current Congress.

Introduced by Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, in April and redrafted late this summer, the bill would create a National Cybersecurity Adviser under the authority of the president to coordinate cyber-security efforts. Rockefeller and Snowe drafted the legislation in response to years of post-9/11 complaints that neither the private sector nor government officials were doing enough to adequately protect the nation’s critical cyber-infrastructure. According to a number of reports, the senators drafted the bill after consulting with the White House.

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