Internet kill switch? Presidential power online.

• Author: Suderman, Peter
• Position: Citings

SEN. JOE Lieberman (I-Conn.) is worried about the Internet. At a June press conference in Washington, D.C., he warned that, thanks to America's increasing dependence on Internet infrastructure, the country's "economic security, national security, and public safety are now all at risk from new kinds of enemies--cyber-warriors, cyberspies, cyber-terrorists, and cybercriminals."

Lieberman's solution? Put the president in charge.

Together with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.), Lieberman has introduced legislation that would give the executive branch significant new cyber-security staff and powers. The Protecting Cyberspace As a National Asset Act of 2010 calls for the installation of a Senate-confirmed cyber-security czar at the White House as well as the creation of a new cyber-security bureaucracy, the National Center for Cyber-security and Communications, within the Department of Homeland Security. With those new offices comes new authority: If the president were to declare a...