GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Obama to veto House efforts to scuttle Internet fairness rules

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: NextGov

05April2011 12:45pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: The White House threatened on Monday to veto any bill from Congress that would scuttle new rules aimed at keeping Internet access free and open.

"If the president is presented with a resolution of disapproval that would not safeguard the free and open Internet, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the resolution," the Office of Management and Budget said in a Statement of Administration Policy.

The House Rules Committee voted on Monday evening to send the resolution to the House floor. The resolution would repeal the Federal Communications Commission's so-called "network-neutrality" regulations, designed to prevent Internet carriers from blocking websites that use too much bandwidth. The committee voted to allow one hour of debate on the issue. House aides say a vote is expected on Tuesday but the resolution is not expected to make it past the Senate. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: U.S. House Bill Would Fund DoD Through September

 

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Defense News

05April2011 12:39pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: The U.S. House Appropriations Committee introduced a seventh stopgap spending measure late April 4 that would fund the Pentagon through September.

The temporary spending bill - known as a continuing resolution (CR) - would prevent a government shutdown for one more week, but would keep the Defense Department running through the fiscal year. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS CYBER-SECURITY BRIEFING: New Cybersecurity Bill Not A Hit With Civil Liberties Groups

 

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: HS Today

25February2011 8:00pmEST

GCIS CYBER-SECURITY UPDATE: The Cybersecurity and Internet Freedom Act, introduced February 17 by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman, Sen. Joe Lieberman, (I-Conn.) ranking member Sen. Susan Collins, (R-Maine), and Federal Financial Management Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), is meeting with a chilly reception by civil liberties groups.
 
The bill is a revision of legislation originally proposed last year, Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010, that was updated to counter fears that the law, if enacted, could allow a president to shut down or otherwise take control of the Internet in an emergency via a “kill switch."
 
The  new bill explicitly states that “neither the President, the Director of the National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications or any officer or employee of the United States Government shall have the authority to shut down the Internet.” It also provides an opportunity for judicial review of designations of our most sensitive systems and assets as “covered critical infrastructure.”
 
“We want to clear the air once and for all,” Libermann said when reintroducing the bill. “There is no so-called ‘kill switch’ in our legislation because the very notion is antithetical to our goal of providing precise and targeted authorities to the President.”
 
Civil liberties groups including  the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), voiced concerns over the new bill, insisting that that powers granted to the federal government in the bill remain potentially excessive.
 
“The president would have essentially unchecked power to determine what services can be connected to the Internet or even what content can pass over the Internet in a cybersecurity emergency,” EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston said in a statement Friday. “Our concerns have not changed.” (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.