Could feds ever shut down the Web?

Could the Internet be shut down in the US like it was in Egypt? Experts say that it may be technically possible. However, only a fool in the Oval Office would take such irrational steps. Still, revelations about torture at Guantanamo and domestic spying and wiretapping after Sept. 11 have created a heightened sense of anxiety about giving the federal government more leeway to intrude or restrict behavior in times of conflict. While there are thousands of Internet service providers in the U.S., there are only a dozen or so “Tier 1 ISPs” — the providers that carry the bulk of Internet traffic around the country. Shutting down those companies would kick about 80 percent of Americans off the Web, said Jonathan Zittrain, a Harvard Law School professor who also teaches computer science at the university. “Imagine the government went completely off the rails, and someone went thundering around and said, ‘Do X,’” Zittrain said. “Ten phone calls to Internet service providers who can't say no would make the Internet virtually inaccessible to the vast majority of people in the country.” Many politicians and government officials dismiss as “unrealistic” the idea of the government silencing the Internet in the US.