The Government's Secret Plan to Shut Off Cellphones and the Internet, Explained

I know this have been covered before but it bears repeating since a deadline of sorts on this issue is coming up in January 2014.

I want to point out that the DC District Court has ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release it's plan to the public.

www.motherjones.com...

Update: The Electronic Privacy Information Center reports that the court just granted the government more time to decide whether to release the kill switch plan. It now has until January 13.

This month, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Department of Homeland Security must make its plan to shut off the internet and cellphone communications available to the American public.

You, of course, may now be thinking: What plan?! Though President Barack Obama swiftly disapproved of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak turning off the internet in his country (to quell widespread civil disobedience) in 2011, the US government has the authority to do the same sort of thing, under a plan that was devised during the George W. Bush administration.

Many details of the government's controversial "kill switch" authority have been classified, such as the conditions under which it can be implemented and how the switch can be used. But thanks to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), DHS has to reveal those details by December 12—or mount an appeal. (The smart betting is on an appeal, since DHS has fought to release this information so far.) Yet here's what we do know about the government's "kill switch" plan:

The article goes on to list details of the plan that are known.

A little history showing agreement between democratic and repulbican administrations:

What is clear is that in 2006, the Bush administration entered into a secret agreement with telecom giants and came up with a specific plan as to when and how the government can actually shut down these networks—called Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 303. This is the plan that the US government is required to release under the federal district court ruling. In 2011, the White House asserted again that the administration has the legal authority to control private communications systems in the United States during national emergencies. And in 2012, President Obama reaffirmed that DHS could seize private facilities and shut down communications in a July executive order.

reply to post by FyreByrd


There is little faith remaining in the government, including the court system or it alphabet agencies. Of course DHS will appeal this ruling while they judge shop for a sympathetic ear or one they can blackmail.

Failing that I wouldn't put it above these lawless scumbags to simply refuse the order completely. They have already proven again and again they are above the law. Doubtful any court decision will change that.

The time for civilized negotiation and rule of law is rapidly passing if it's not completely passed already. After all "law" and justice have nothing to do with each other.

They can kill it anytime they want to. Everyone will tune in to tv news (like the olden days) and the official reason will be given.

The real reason will be that "Conspiracy Theories" were becoming too real.

With all forms of communication technically controlled by our friendly govt, this doesn't surprise me in the least. I would imagine the control over the exact network they created long ago, has been hushed down to a whisper long before any talks of a "killswitch" were made public. Remember one thing, the govt created the "internet" and they can surely control its use. Regardless of what the public thinks. A govt doesn't just invest billions of dollars into data collection and retention without setting aside a plan for massive control.

Either way, we should not rely on things that a destructive nation controls.

Double post...

It would be fun to watch the cell phone junkies go into shock when their phones stopped working.



Just replace Unreal Tournament with Facebook or Twitter and this is what kids around the nation will turn into.

it won't happen. The internet is too much of a strategic distraction to just be shut off. It would cause too much chaos for it to just be turned off.

I'm going to take the ol' Aldous Huxley route of thinking here.

I honestly think the LAST thing they want is to deliberately take the giant pacifier out of the collective babies mouth.

I would say something that drastic would be a last resort - but a last resort to what?

If something like that happens I would, at this moment anyway, have to think that it would be because of something completely out of humanities control.

FyreByrd
I know this have been covered before but it bears repeating since a deadline of sorts on this issue is coming up in January 2014.

www.motherjones.com...

It now has until January 13.

Am I the only one who spotted this?