Cybersecurity Measures Will Mandate Government "ID Tokens" To Use The Internet Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones http://www.prisonplanet.com/ Monday, June 28, 2010 The move to shut down and regulate the Internet under a new government-controlled system has accelerated into high gear with the announcement that the government's cybersecurity strategy revolves around issuing Internet users with ID "tokens" without which they will not be able to visit websites, the latest salvo against web freedom which, in combination with Senator Joe Lieberman's 'kill switch' bill, will serve to eviscerate the free Internet as we know it. Under the guise of "cybersecurity," the government is moving to discredit and shut down the existing Internet infrastructure in the pursuit of a new, centralized, regulated world wide web. It is important to stress that "cybersecurity" has nothing to do with protecting the infrastructure of the United States and everything to do with taking over the Internet. Cybersecurity is about attacking non-compliant Internet users, not defending against hackers. Non-compliance equates as using the Internet as a political tool to dissent against the policies of the U.S. government. Having already tried and failed in flooding the web with paid disinformation agents, the government is now turning to its only recourse, exploiting hyped or outright staged cyberattacks as an excuse through which to implement an Internet 2 system controlled and regulated solely by the authorities. We are constantly told that the Internet needs to be subject to government control because cyberterrorists could hack in and bring down the national power grid. However, the vast majority of the U.S. power infrastructure is not connected to the Internet. It will only be connected to the Internet if the government accelerates the implementation of "smart grid" technology, so in this sense, the government itself is leaving the power grid more vulnerable to hackers by its own programs. Threats against computer networks in the United States are grossly exaggerated. Dire reports issued by the Defense Science Board and the Center for Strategic and International Studies "are usually richer in vivid metaphor — with fears of 'digital Pearl Harbors' and 'cyber-Katrinas' — than in factual foundation," writes Evgeny Morozov, a Belarus-born researcher and blogger who writes on the political effects of the internet. Morozov notes that much of the data on the supposed cyber threat "are gathered by ultra-secretive government agencies — which need to justify their own existence — and cyber-security companies — which derive commercial benefits from popular anxiety." Should the government go ahead and try to exercise the powers it is now on the verge of acquiring, we'd expect to see the Internet shut down for a few days in order to prevent some kind of contrived cyberattack blamed on terrorists. Sure, there will be problems, but large corporations will raise little dissent safe in the knowledge that the Lieberman legislation gives them immunity from civil lawsuits and also ensures they are reimbursed for any costs incurred if the Internet is shut down for a period of time. After a series of shutdowns, the government will simply demand that every corporation or individual who wants to operate a website first obtain a license and an individual Internet ID. Such licenses will be revoked for anyone who engages in "hate speech," which is now so broad a term that it encompasses offending anyone on the Internet. The result will be a sterile and regulated Internet which more closely resembles cable TV than the true open source, outpost of free speech that we have come to know and love. This exact strategy was outlined in a paper published by Obama's cybersecurity co-ordinator Howard Schmidt, which was compiled with the aid of the National Security Council. The strategy revolves around, "The creation of a system for identity management that would allow citizens to use additional authentication techniques, such as physical tokens or modules on mobile phones, to verify who they are before buying things online or accessing such sensitive information as health or banking records," reports the FInancial Times.

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