What the Feds Can Learn From Egyptian Internet Control

Tell me, what's the difference between the Egyptian government's shutting down social networks to "bring order" to protests and the U.S. government's shutting down the Internet if there is an "imminent cyber threat"? Answer: nothing.
Over the past two years, the Obama administration has ramped up regulation and control of the Internet. Of course, it's packaging any bids to do so under Internet and homeland security.
But when does homeland security breach its constitutional limits of power and your rights as a citizen? How much authority can the feds be granted to "take over" a civilian network in case of an emergency?
Now Lieberman and his cronies are decrying any parallels between the Egyptian Internet crackdown and their Internet kill switch bill. They released a statement Feb. 1 saying emergency measures in their bill would only apply in a "precise and targeted way" to "critical infrastructure" to ensure that important assets and civilian networks "are protected from destruction." Their legislation would only allow the president to use emergency authority if there were an "ongoing or imminent" attack that would "cause local or national catastrophic effects" if there were a disruption.
And neither Obama (or any future president) nor Congress would ever abuse or build on that autocratic cease-and-desist decision, right?
Consider that President Obama believes the federalized security screening at airports has been such a success that he wants to apply the same government "expertise" to the arenas of online commentary and commerce. The White House's cybersecurity adviser joined Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on Jan. 7 to announce what boils down to a national ID card for the Internet.
"Their plan is straightforward. Instead of logging onto Facebook or one's bank using separate passwords established with each individual company or website, the White House will take the lead in developing what it calls an 'identity ecosystem' that will centralize personal information and credentials. This government-approved system would issue a smart card or similar device that would confirm an individual's identity when making online credit-card purchases, accessing electronic health care records, posting 'anonymous' blog entries or even logging onto one's own home computer, according to administration documents."
The "benefits" of this new U.S. Internet ID, or dog tag:

--The government would be able to track every website you visit and every keystroke you make on your home computer.

--The government would be able to track every purchase you make and every deposit and withdrawal, and it could gain access to your electronic health care records.

--The government would be able to track every blog comment you make, along with every Facebook and Twitter post.

--The government would be able to create lists of your friends and acquaintances and lists of all your political affiliations, political donations, club memberships, hobbies and interests.