What If The Internet Breaks

[Guardian]

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/what-if-the-internet-breaks.aspxThe 40-year-old system might be vulnerable to technical collapse or cyberattack, which could cause widespread chaos in fields from banking to health care to government.I wonder how many people who are living outside the country would be able to live without their Internet?

[volstateguy]

The world would come to a grinding hault.

[Mr Lee]

The world would come to a grinding hault.

And there would be rioting in the streets of the US. I cannot speak for other countries but if they cut off ATM, which would include the use of welfare ATM cards then IMO all hell would break out in the streets. I have seen riots set off for foolish reasons and I have seen some areas burn and loot the same businesses that helped them their whole lives, such as one grocery store that had extended credit to those who could not make it to the next check. I really do not wish to see what will happen and I pray it never happens. As for the Philippines, I think people would just accept it for a fairly long period of time but when people started starving then all bets may also be off. Edited December 13, 2009 by Mr. Lee

[Mik]

I don't doubt that huge but brief internet outages will intentionally happen. Why? Who would benefit? Government. An internet outage occuring before an invasion would aid the invaders. Or government may want to control dissent.Georgia accuses Russia of coordinated cyberattack, August 11, 2008"The Georgian embassy in the U.K. has accused forces within Russia of launching a coordinated cyberattack against Georgian Web sites, to coincide with military operations in the breakaway region of South Ossetia." http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10014150-83.htmlIran Internet access down pre-protests, report says, December 5, 2009"Two days ahead of a new round of planned protests against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Internet access in the nation's capital is largely down... Sources close to Iran's technical services say the cut to Tehran's outside access was the result of "a decision by the authorities" and not a technical breakdown..." http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10410035-93.htmlThe Plan to Silence Dissent, 11.30.09Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced a measure this year that would allow the president to disconnect private broadband users during an undefined national cyber emergency. One provision of S.773 would grant the president authority to "declare a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic" including that on private systems designated as critical. Not surprisingly, the bill gives the president wide discretion in designating private systems as "critical." http://spectator.org/archives/2009/11/30/the-plan-to-silence-dissent.

[TheMason]

The world would come to a grinding hault.

As for the Philippines, I think people would just accept it for a fairly long period of time but when people started starving then all bets may also be off.

Remittances would be severely disrupted if the Internet went down. I think that would have a bigger impact than welfare recipients in the US losing their ATM access. Also, think of all the women and lady boys that would be out of work if the Internet went down. No cam shows, online romances, or remittances would devastate the Philippines economy.