Bush Prepares for Possible GPS Shutdown

On Thu, 16 Dec 2004 20:56:06 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote in
GDmwd.582233$D%.446179@attbi_s51::

This is news?

The President has always had broad powers in times of national emergency,
and can disable (or enable) some or all parts of the national airspace --
including GPS, ILS, VOR, and NDB.

If you had read the news provided at the link in the original article,
you'd know:

The directives to the Defense Department and the Homeland Security
Department were part of a space policy that Bush signed this
month.

I'm sure they've got some contingencies to shut down access to the internet, for that matter.

You haven't a clue how the Internet operates. There is no Internet
central authority.

The President has always had broad powers in times of national emergency,
and can disable (or enable) some or all parts of the national airspace --
including GPS, ILS, VOR, and NDB.

If you had read the news provided at the link in the original article,
you'd know:

The directives to the Defense Department and the Homeland Security
Department were part of a space policy that Bush signed this
month.

I did read the article, and these directives are nothing new. What's new is
the media -- and you -- noticing them.

I'm sure they've got some contingencies to shut down access to the
internet, for that matter.

You haven't a clue how the Internet operates. There is no Internet
central authority.

I didn't say they could shut down the internet. I said they would shut down
your ACCESS to the internet. Surely you aren't so gullible as to believe
that the government couldn't shut down AOL, Mediacom, Qwest, and the dozen
or so other ISPs that provide 95% of Americans with internet access in time
of national emergency?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

I didn't say they could shut down the internet. I said they would shut
down
your ACCESS to the internet. Surely you aren't so gullible as to believe
that the government couldn't shut down AOL, Mediacom, Qwest, and the dozen
or so other ISPs that provide 95% of Americans with internet access in
time of national emergency?

After dealing with numerous backbone firms: I seriously doubt that Qwest
could easily/quickly shut down Qwest. THe same is true for any of the
other backbones. AOL...maybe. It's a different kind of service, and one
could probably "attack" it via the mechanism it uses for
authentication/authorization.

- Andrew

One thermonuclear device going off at say 100,000' will wipe out communications over a very wide area.


"Andrew Gideon" wrote in message online.com...
Jay Honeck wrote:

I didn't say they could shut down the internet. I said they would shut
down
your ACCESS to the internet. Surely you aren't so gullible as to believe
that the government couldn't shut down AOL, Mediacom, Qwest, and the dozen
or so other ISPs that provide 95% of Americans with internet access in
time of national emergency?

After dealing with numerous backbone firms: I seriously doubt that Qwest
could easily/quickly shut down Qwest. THe same is true for any of the
other backbones. AOL...maybe. It's a different kind of service, and one
could probably "attack" it via the mechanism it uses for
authentication/authorization.

- Andrew

You haven't a clue how the Internet operates. There is no Internet
central authority.

Not that many border-gateway routers connecting US backbones to the rest of
the country though, which becomes a different argument. Unlikely, but not
overly difficult to isolate the USA from the internet if need be.

Cockpit Colin wrote:


You haven't a clue how the Internet operates. There is no Internet
central authority.

Not that many border-gateway routers connecting US backbones to the rest
of the country though, which becomes a different argument. Unlikely, but
not overly difficult to isolate the USA from the internet if need be.

You might be surprised. I'm aware of some very regional (ie. not too large)
"backbones" in the NYC area that have their own connectivity to some ASN
outside of the US.

Now, NYC might be unusual in the intercontinental traffic it generates. But
not *that* unusual. I expect many MANs now have pretty widespread
peerings.

- Andrew

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:GDmwd.582233$D%.446179@attbi_s51...
This is news?

The President has always had broad powers in times of national emergency,
and can disable (or enable) some or all parts of the national airspace --
including GPS, ILS, VOR, and NDB. I'm sure they've got some contingencies
to shut down access to the internet, for that matter.



Exactly. In your country and mine, Powers to shut down ports, roads,
bridges, airports, civil liberties, put troops in the streets, etc... have
always been there "in times of national emergency".

You have to excuse some questioning of these powers, however, because no one
is exactly sure what constitutes "national emergency". Does something
affecting 10 percent of the population constitute "national emergency"? 1
percent? 1 in 100,000? 1 in a million? Does a poised hostile armed force of
100,000? A few thousand? Several hundred militants and a bunch of
rabble-rousers? Armed with mostly light weaponry? Armed with atomic bombs?

We know full well that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely.... which is why democracies were born in the first place. The
use of "power" in a "National Emergency" does not scare most people....
except for the power to define what is a bona fide "National Emergency"
requiring those powers.

On 12/16/04 5:41 PM, in article ,
"Icebound" wrote:


You have to excuse some questioning of these powers, however, because no one
is exactly sure what constitutes "national emergency". Does something
affecting 10 percent of the population constitute "national emergency"? 1
percent? 1 in 100,000? 1 in a million? Does a poised hostile armed force of
100,000? A few thousand? Several hundred militants and a bunch of
rabble-rousers? Armed with mostly light weaponry? Armed with atomic bombs?


Our entire airspace was shut down after the deaths of a few thousand on
9-11, so we can put that down as a partial answer.
--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino
Cartoons with a Touch of Magic�
http://www.wizardofdraws.com
http://www.cartoonclipart.com

The Wizard's 2004 Christmas newsletter
http://www.wizardofdraws.com/main/xmas04.html

Jay,

including GPS, ILS, VOR, and NDB. I'm sure they've got some contingencies
to shut down access to the internet, for that matter.

Back in the old-days (when men gave birth to the internet ;-) it was called
ARPANet and it's design goal was surviving any kind of attac due to being
de-centralized...

So, guess that thing will last longer than we do..... ;-)

Regards

Kai

Back in the old-days (when men gave birth to the internet ;-) it was
called
ARPANet and it's design goal was surviving any kind of attac due to being
de-centralized...

So, guess that thing will last longer than we do..... ;-)

I know the origins of the internet, and its supposed invulnerability.

But there are only a few dozen major computer networks providing the
backbone of the internet in the U.S. This is all speculation, of course,
but I would bet you ten bucks that there is an NSA task force whose main job
is to maintain the capability of (a) monitoring (b) defending, and (c)
disabling these networks, as needed.

Could they take down the whole internet? No. But could they prevent 90% of
Americans from seeing the internet? You bet -- at least for a time.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"