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Comment by quizbiz | Hacker News Reader

Is shutting down the internet physically possible? Ignoring the consequences, I'm just curious about the implications on infrastructure. I, for one, am really unsure about what the internet is as far as the hardware connections go.

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Sort of. There are two probable ways it would happen. The first, and most likely, is that the government could order all ISPs to stop the flow of data through their pipes. Theoretically, they could also shut down some of the root nameservers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_nameserver), many of which are owned by the government. But again, this wouldn't truly shut down the Internet, it'd just stop browsers from being able to turn addresses into IP addresses. If you knew the IP of the site you were trying to visit, they couldn't stop you with that method.

Edit: also note that since DNS resolution is a redundant system, they'd have to shut down EVERY root nameserver (or at least the ones in the US) to stop resolution completely. Otherwise it'd basically just slow down, though potentially to the point where it'd become unusable.

I don't even know what that means, but I can't wait till hollywood gets hold of it

Except that when it gets shut down the "real hackers" will be able to link up to forgotten/abandoned satellite networks and still be able to communicate and plot their various schemes.

You know, like Die Hard 4.

I'm pretty sure that "shutting down the internet" is something that is well beyond the reach of US administration. Because most of the important infrastructure is redundant and in most cases not operated by US government (and also often not even located in US).

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