President's 'terrible policy' re

President's 'terrible policy' re

onenewsnow.com

President's 'terrible policy' re: Internet
Chris Woodward - OneNewsNow - 7/18/2012 3:35:00 AM

An advocate for smaller government says Barack Obama's new executive order that gives government the power to shut down the Internet is another example of the president "acting unilaterally."

President Obama signed the Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions during the first week of July. It is an executive order that empowers certain government agencies with control over telecommunications during natural disasters and/or security emergencies.
Seton Motley, president of Less Government and editor-in-chief of StopNetRegulation.org, does not see the point.
"My initial response is this is Obama acting unilaterally again. Remember the cyber security 'kill switch' bill from 2010? [It] went absolutely nowhere -- and deservedly so. So what does Obama do? Okay, can't pass it through Congress. I'll just jam it through with an executive order. I'll have agencies enforce it. We've seen it with net neutrality; we've seen it with cap and trade," Motley lists. "All of these are bills that never made it through Congress, but somehow made it into regulatory statute."
Regardless, the advocate for less government calls the idea "terrible policy."
"In the event of an emergency, why does he have to shut off the Internet," he wonders. "There's nothing to be gained by that. Why is shutting down NationalReview.com or, for that matter, Macys.com helpful to national security? I don't understand the connection."
If government has a problem with a website and/or information it has posted, Motley suggests it go to a judge and request that said website be shut down.

In a related interview with CNBC, Ryan Radia of the Competitive Enterprise Institute voiced similar concerns, including the fact that there is no meaningful judicial review of such an order.