On 6/10/2010, S.3480 - the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010 - was introduced. It also had 1st and 2nd readings before being shuffled right to committee. There are a lot of things I don't like about this bill.
The first question that popped into my head was who uses the term "cyberspace" anymore? Lieberman? Really?
Ok, now that I have that off my chest, let's get into the text of the bill. It's easiest to go in order and work through it. Definition: Critical Infrastructure. In PCNAA, this is defined as it is in the Patriot Act.
"systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters."
Who gets to determine what those assets actually are? While I do believe that one defined authority of the federal government is the security of the nation, it's a bit broad to not specifically define what is or is not going to fall within the scope of this law. Actually, this comment is more directed toward the Patriot Act, but the PCNAA inherits it. If this were limited to just the infrastructure pertaining to government, not involving the private sector, it would not have been as big a deal.
On to the bureaucracy. This bill would create a new Office of Cyberspace Policy. Yay! Based on the qualifications for the Director spot, anyone that knows as much as a high school hacker could be appointed.
