The US Government Has An Internet Killswitch - And It's None Of Your Business
Submitted by Derrick Broze via TheAntiMedia.org,
On Monday the Supreme Court declined to hear a petition from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) that sought to force the Department of Homeland Security to release details of a secret “killswitch” protocol to shut down cellphone and internet service during emergencies.
EPIC has been fighting since 2011 to release the details of the program, which is known as Standard Operating Procedure 303. EPIC writes, “On March 9, 2006, the National Communications System (‘NCS’) approved SOP 303, however it was never released to the public. This secret document codifies a ‘shutdown and restoration process for use by commercial and private wireless networks during national crisis.’”
EPIC continues, “In a 2006-2007 Report, the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (‘NSTAC’) indicated that SOP 303 would be implemented under the coordination of the National Coordinating Center (‘NCC’) of the NSTAC, while the decision to shut down service would be made by state Homeland Security Advisors or individuals at DHS. The report indicates that NCC will determine if a shutdown is necessary based on a ‘series of questions.’”
Despite EPIC’s defeat at the hands of the Supreme Court, the four-year court battle yielded a heavily redacted copy of Standard Operating Procedure 303.
The fight for transparency regarding SOP 303 began shortly after a Bay Area Rapid Transit (“BART”) officer in San Francisco shot and killed a homeless man named Charles Hill on July 3, 2011. The shooting sparked massive protests against BART throughout July and August 2011. During one of these protests, BART officials cut off cell phone service inside four transit stations for three hours. This kept anyone on the station platform from sending or receiving phone calls, messages, or other data.
In July 2012, EPIC submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the DHS seeking the full text of Standard Operating Procedure 303; the full text of the predetermined “series of questions” that determines if a shutdown is necessary; and any executing protocols related to the implementation of Standard Operating Procedure 303, distributed to DHS, other federal agencies, or private companies.
After the DHS fought the FOIA releases, a district court in Washington, D.C. ruled in EPIC’s favor, but that ruling was later overturned by the court of appeals. The appeals court told EPIC the government was free to withhold details of the plan under the Freedom of Information Act because the information might “endanger” the public. In 2015, the digital rights group asked the Supreme Court to review the ruling by the federal appeals court.
With the Supreme Court’s refusal to address EPIC’s petition, the issue seems to have reached a dead-end. The American people are (once again) left in the dark regarding the inner-workings of another dangerous and intrusive government program. It is only through the hard work of activists and groups like EPIC that we are at least aware of the existence of this program — but knowing bits and pieces about the protocol is not enough. In order to combat such heavy-handed measures, we need to have access to the government’s own documents. Hopefully, there is already a whistleblower preparing to release these details.
What we do with the information we do have is up to each of us as individuals. We can sit back and watch the United States further devolve into a militarized police and surveillance state — or we can spread this information, get involved locally, and create new systems outside of the current paradigm of control and exploitation.
(23 votes)
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but will the cctv cameras at the bank still work... you know... as i casually "request a withdrawal" ?
I think that would be the signal for anyone who's thought things through and has attempted to be ready, mentally and physically.
I think it would be at least hours. Most would stand around open mouthed, waiting for someone to come along and tell them what to do.
It's the edge that could make a big difference.
Skateboarder: And how will that affect the elite who live thousands of miles away from the rioting?
While I'm here: I never understood why so few people take an interest in electronics and how things work, when so much of our lives are controlled by electronics. On the other hand, I am a bit of an enthusiast but progress and been painfully slow. I wonder why ...
Relax.
Donut shops need the Internet to operate.
When the PoPo go into sugar withdrawal the information juice will flow a again.
FCC article Part 15 found in every manual of every single electronic device sold here states: "This device may not cause harmful interference, and this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation." I always perceive it as a killswitch clause, even though it supposedly has nothing but good intentions behind it.
Same rule applies to our interaction with law enforcement, banks, lawmakers. Can't cause interference. Must accept interference, even if it results in violation of your rights, confiscation of property, injury or death. And after you're dead, make sure someone files the taxes on your behalf. It's the law.
MrNosey, it would be utter folly to think the elite could hold the mobs off for very long......even if the cops and military initially tried to protect them. God forbid things ever get that bad but if they do, several hundred or several thousand pissed off people armed to the teeth with guns off the street and out of this nation's closets would eventually swamp whatever protection systems they had. Truth is, some people would relish the challenge of digging the bastards out and giving them some "frontier justice". And fleeing to other countries would only postpone the inevitable. A mob anywhere in the world will eventually get you if they really want you.
Yeah, they'll hide in their bunkers, and the people up top will find those locations and make sure those elites never see the light of day again.
Their exits, their air supply, their power, etc...all at the mercy of those above ground, who really don't have much else to do but find them and exact revenge. It's a miserable way to die...in the dark, underground, rationing your dwindling supplies of food and water as the air grows hot and stale.
The trip down to the bunkers will be one-way for most.
Well....back to Walkie Talkies and Base Stations. Fuck 'em
"Hey Good Buddy......Got Yer Ears On? "
They had a kill switch, it's been neutralized.
See,
http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/01/us-intelligence-directors-personal-e-mail-phone-hacked/
The Clapper got hacked too.
ROFL
In historical retrospect, the Internet Kill Switch came to be known as "The Trigger of the Revolution".
Deleted duplicate post.
Deleted duplicate reply.
This is the CIA: your duplicates are recorded and will be used against you.
Funny that I was promptly logged out of ZH after posting this. Maybe I triggered a secret switch.
>>> The US Government Has An Internet Killswitch
.
Was there ever any doubt about that fact?
Even the tiniest shread of doubt?
Would this affect my life savings held in bitcoin?
Look on the bright side! You'd be spared from listening to fonestars incessant yammering!
Not as long as the blockchain is still out there on the un-interupted web. Unfortunately you just won't be able to access it. However as long as you can escape to someplace not under martial law and with net access (good luck) you'll be in great shape! Beats shoving gold bars up your rectum. Those corners are a bitch. Thankfully Maple Leafs are 99.9 pure and round so they come out much smoother.
but we still get amazon and porn right?
-concerned citizen.
more importantly, do we still get amazon porn
ME WANT SNU-SNU!
You can have Home Shopping Network and HBO after midnight(but only if you pick up a 3rd part-time job).
I'm sure all the bit torrents (i.e. all PPP protocols) will be uninterrupted for all the porn, music, and new releases your bandwidth will handle. And if they shut down all the main handwire internet links, no one will be able to communicate including the government. So quite unlikely. But I have lots of books to read so I'm not really very concerned. And I store NOTHING on the cloud. But you better have lots of cash on hand, since without the internet, credit and debit cards won't work and you may want to buy groceries.
has anyone figured out how to access the internet using shortwaves?
It's called winlink2000
And the government controlls that too
LOL Winlink2000 driving old guys with back problems crazy on 20 meters for the last 15 years!
check out comms prepper on You Tube using RMS to send peer to peer e-mail over short wave without needing the internet.
thanks henry and hubbs
http://www.idahoares.info/tutorial_rms_setup.shtml
Seconded. Important stuff.
thanks
early on, hams were sending interlaced messages on TV frequencies and seeing the results on "cathode ray tubes", it was slow.
they also have a kill switch for your use of oxygen.
Ham radio
i understand its illegal to encrypt ham radio conversations
they can't tell if your messages are encrypted if you do it right. ;-)
"The chair is against the wall."
"John has a long moustache."
oo-yay an-cay eak-spay eely-fray ow-nay!
Well you probably wouldn't want to read your Official N.F.L. Green Bay Packer Offensive Playbook on the ol' CB but you might ask about a loaf of bread for tomorrow's lunches.
For more complex situations, prepared phrases will work well: ex:
To scare the monkey, you must kill the chicken.
"bread for tomorrow's lunches." You don't sound very american to me. Habla ustede? Or should I phrase that in Canuckistanese?
What's the ZH Calling Frequency?
I think Kenneth knows.
"Sir, BitCoin has quadrupled in price."
"Execute SOP 303."
303 is good stuff - use it all the time...
Well, I must point out that 303 = 101 * 3. So, the public and private keys to overcome this "kill switch" are just 101 and 3, its prime factors. HaHa, (Nelson)
Wtf good is bit coin going to be with no Internet to push it across
"Dude, some son of a bitch is asking us to disable our mesh net, pointing a Lee–Enfield rifle at us."
"Execute SOB .50"
We need a politician kill switch.
The enhanced version will be a complete .gov kill switch.
WHAT A SHOCKER !!!
I don’t believe it…
Tell me it ain’t so…
Bla-bla-bla…
What’s for dinner honey?...
LMFAO. Lack of communication, is one area where .Gov gets great reviews.
free Lois Lerner<<<