Website Blackout: Laughing Matter or Not?

The voluntary shutdown on Wednesday of websites such as Wikipedia and Reddit is no laughing matter. Or, perhaps, it is.

The website blackouts (see 24-Hour Blackout to Protest Sections in Anti-Piracy Legislation) protested provisions in SOPA, anti-piracy legislation before Congress, which if enacted as originally drafted, would have given the U.S. federal government authority to prevent Americans from accessing foreign websites deemed to host pirated intellectual property.

See Also: The Cybersecurity Swiss Army Knife for Info Guardians: ISO/IEC 27001

As the blackout drew attention from the public, a number of lawmakers - including some of the bills' sponsors - did quick 180-degree turns and abandoned those provisions opponents deemed draconian. With such rapid reversals, one could ask: How did these lawmakers put themselves in this position in the first place?

Jon Stewart provided the answer.

In the opening segment on Wednesday's The Daily Show, the faux news anchor enlightened viewers, speaking over video footage of a Dec. 15 House markup session of the Save Online Privacy Act:

Stewart:: People who wrote it, are supporting it, are experts, so stop worrying, right?.

Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C.: From my perspective, just as an old country boy, umm, and you know, that's that's that's the only way I can understand this complex stuff. We need parallels on the virtual ... in the virtual world to what we have in the real world. and, I think this bill draws the appropriate balance ....

Stewart:: He has no (expletive) idea what this thing is about. ... I wouldn't worry about it, you don't have to think about it too much. You're only the ranking member of the Intellectual Property Subcommittee. Hey, does anyone on these committees charged with regulating the Internet understand how any of this, uh, Internet stuff works?

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.: I'm, I'm not a nerd.

Watt: I am not a nerd.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.: I'm just not enough of a nerd

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah: Maybe we ought to ask some nerds what this thing really does. ... Let's have a hearing, bring in the nerds.

Stewart: Really? Nerds? You know, I think, the word you're really looking for is "experts" to enlighten you so your laws don't backfire, break the Internet.

Stewart's great at pointing out weaknesses in our governmental and political system through satire. Some of the most knowledgeable senators and representatives on IT and information security issues privately lament about the ignorance of many lawmakers on technology and security issues.

Watt's right, IT and information security are complex, and it's unreasonable to expect our congressional representatives to be experts. Still, we hope that when they seek expertise they do so with an open mind. Referring to IT experts as nerds is passé. Quality IT and IT security experts - and there are a growing number of them - understand not only how technology works but its implication on government, the economy and society.

Hord Tipton, the former chief information officer at the Department of Interior who heads the IT security certification organization (ISC)2, says the blackout explains why Congress hasn't passed any significant IT security reform legislation in recent years: "Don't underestimate the power of the people and how little it takes to influence our Congress," Tipton says, noting the flood of phone calls lawmakers received as their constituents were egged on the likes of Wikipedia. "[It] just illustrates how paralyzed they are."

Congressional ignorance is no laughing matter.