CNET is reporting on a Senate bill working its way through Congress that, if passed, would give the President emergency control of the internet, specifically private-sector networks. Additionally, the bill would create a federal certification program for “cybersecurity professionals,” along with a requirement that certain private-sector computer systems and networks be managed by people who have obtained that certification.

The author of that CNET report, CBS News corresponent Declan McCullagh, has asked four direct questions of the Senate Commerce Committee last Wednesday and got some sort of evasive boilerplate response in return. He is still waiting for a clearer answer, but in the meantime, it looks like they’re trying to push this one through the Senate under the radar. Drudge Report picked up on it, though, which should definitely make a difference in terms of blowing the cover off of this.

It’s probably obvious and not even necessary to point out, but when you consider the fact that the federal government has been hiring private hackers in recent years to help them with their abysmal grasp of cybersecurity, it’s laughable (if not outright audacious) that the federal government suddenly thinks it can become the leading authority on cybersecurity, and to the extent that it wants to write that into law!

The day the federal government sets the standards for our country’s cybersecurity is the day you can kiss the internet goodbye.