This article really speaks for itself.  I am concerned at the very attempt to gain the power to do what Iran did after their recent elections.  For an American President to decry a tyrannical foreign political figure for an action, then behind American backs push legislation for that same power, is abhorrent and should be illegal.

CBS News - Opinion
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/01/opinion/main5279421.shtml

An Unconstitutional Internet Power Grab
Bruce Henderson: How The Prospect Of A a "Digital Pearl Harbor" Is Fueling Bad Policy

(CBS)  Bruce Henderson writes for And Still I Persist and is a former Marine who focuses custom data mining and visualization technologies on the economy and other disasters

Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat senator from West Virginia...he and his staff have been laboring to create law that will enhance our cyber security, under the name of S773...the Obama administration apparently fears the "digital Pearl Harbor" and their ability to respond...they think that pulling the plug and a federal certification program will do just the trick. This shows a basic lack of understanding of what the Internet is, how it works, and what it represents to present day America.

As has been demonstrated during times of national and regional crisis...September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, the San Diego wild fires or the health care proposals, the Internet is an important means of communication and self-organization among the population to respond to any crisis or any debate. Any move to limit this is a perceived as a direct threat to the constitutional rights of assembly and speech upon which the government cannot infringe.

S773 makes no attempt to outline and describe what form of emergency would trigger the use of these broad new powers to limit communication...bill also proscribes that the executive branch will perform periodic mapping" of private networks deemed to be critical, and those companies "shall share" requested information with the federal government.

Translation: the U.S. government bureaucracy will be spending your tax dollars to figure out private networks, find choke points and places where they can control the flow of communication. Furthermore, companies (such as your ISP) are going to be required, by law, to supply the federal bureaucrats with whatever network, account, usage and history information they deem appropriate. All in the name of cyber safety...bill also establishes federal indoctrination and certification for cyber security professionals.

In one Pew research study they cite as many as 69% of Americans are now getting news from Internet sites. While another study states that the Internet has overtaken newspapers and is climbing fast to challenge television as the public's source of news and information. As has been proven in times of crisis, the Internet can react faster and in many cases better than traditional media outlets.

Because of this new and growing reliance on the Internet as a wide, free, virtual "press", any government control, intrusion or regulation runs afoul of American's most basic sense of rights. By its very nature, the Internet is not easily controlled by any government - it is the ultimate embodiment of free speech and free press. While it did not exist in 1776, I am sure the founders would have loved it.