The Identity Ecosystem: Obama’s Plan for Internet Control

01-19-2011 • rutherford.org

Second, it will eventually allow the government to have control over all internet activity, e.g., acting as a clearinghouse for who can and cannot access the internet and the extent to which they can do so. As Curt Hopkins notes, “the ‘Identity Ecosystem’ sounds strangely like the national intranet the Chinese government has been working on, as an alternative to the Internet as a whole, and more controllable.” Control is the key word here, and total control is the government’s objective. Third, it would enable the government to better monitor Americans’ internet activities--another long desired goal. For example, in 2009, under the guise of combating child pornography, lawmakers proposed the “Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Today’s Youth Act of 2009” which required that all internet users’ online surfing habits be retained for two years. The danger, of course, is that the information could be used by corporate entities and law enforcement agencies alike. Although that legislation stalled in committee, the underlying mindset has not changed--namely, that the internet and its users need to be monitored. Fourth, it would empower the government in its quest to regulate not only internet activity but also the content of expressive activities.