This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
A five-day Internet shutdown in Egypt failed to stop the protests that forced President Hosni Mubarak to resign. But it raised a technical question. Just how were Egyptian officials able to shut down Internet service in their country?
埃及为期5天的互联网关闭措施并未能阻止最终导致穆巴拉克总统辞职的示威活动。但它提出了一个技术性问题，埃及政府究竟是如何能够关闭国内的互联网服务的呢？
Craig Labovitz is chief scientist at Arbor Networks, an Internet security company in the American state of Michigan. Mr. Labovitz says the Internet is not as indestructible as people might think. He says there are points where the flow of computer traffic can be restricted.
克雷格·拉博维茨（Craig Labovitz）是美国密西根州一家名为Arbor Networks的网络安全公司的首席科学家。拉博维茨先生称，互联网并没有人们想象的那么坚不可摧，互联网存在着一些可以限制计算机通讯的节点。
CRAIG LABOVITZ: "From a technical standpoint, the popular imagination of the Internet is as a network that can survive nuclear wars, can't be stopped, is everything, everywhere. But the engineering realities are a lot more prosaic. In many countries there are a few natural bottlenecks, whether it be large data centers or right-of-ways."
拉博维茨：“从技术角度来说，互联网给人的普遍印象是它能在核战中幸存，不会被中断并无处不在。但技术方面的实际情况却平常得多。许多国家的互联网都存在一些天然关卡，它可能是大型数据中心或访问权限。”
Mr. Labovitz says his researchers tracked the Internet shut down in Egypt as it was being carried out. He explains that in Egypt, Internet users connect to the outside world through a small number of providers with international links.
拉博维茨先生，他的研究人员在埃及关闭互联网期间进行了跟踪。他解释说，在埃及，互联网用户只能通过少数几家拥有国际线路的宽带供应商与外界联系。
CRAIG LABOVITZ: "Although there are a hundred or more providers within the country -- domestic providers -- there really are only four providers that maintain external links to the external world. And there's an even a smaller number of data centers where the fiber optics cross Egypt. So you really just need to turn off a handful of machines to have this type of disruption."
拉博维茨：“虽然埃及国内有一百多家宽带供应商，但实际上只有4家具有国际线路，光纤遍布埃及的数据中心更少。因此，只需要关闭少数几台机器，就能造成互联网中断。”
News reports suggested that the fiber optic links for those networks are even all housed in the same building.
新闻报道指出，连接这些网络的光纤甚至都在同一栋建筑内。
Could a similar Internet shutdown take place in the United States? Craig Labovitz says that is less of a possibility because of a larger number of Internet providers and data centers.
美国是否也可能发生类似的互联网关闭事件呢？拉博维茨称，这种可能性相对较小，因为美国拥有大量的宽带供应商和数据中心。
Still, the recent shutdown in Egypt has raised new concerns about a proposal in the United States Congress. Critics say the legislation could make similar action possible in America.
不过，最近埃及关闭互联网事件引发了人们对美国国会一项提案的新的担忧。批评人士表示，这项立法将使美国采取类似措施成为可能。
The measure is known as the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act. Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut first proposed the bill last June. Supporters say it would help protect the country's economic and national security from cyber attack. It would give the president the emergency power to shut down or seize parts of the nation's Internet in the event of a major threat.
这一措施被称为“像保护国有资产一样保护互联网空间法案”(Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act，PCNAA)。康涅狄格州参议员约瑟夫·利伯曼（Joseph Lieberman）去年6月首次提出这一法案。支持者表示，这将有助于防止网络攻击威胁美国经济和国家安全。该法案赋予总统在美国面临重大威胁的情况下关闭或控制国内部分互联网。
Critics say the bill would give the president too much power. Some people call it the "Kill Switch Bill" -- an easy way to shut off the Internet. They say the government could use it to censor the Web and control the flow of information.
而批评人士表示，该法案将赋予总统过多权力。有些将其称为“生杀开关法案”--这是一个关闭互联网的简单途径。他们表示，政府可能利用该法案审查互联网并控制信息通讯。