This is a bill that is proposed by a Senator, namely
John D. Rockefeller, with the support of a few other
Senators, Evan Bayh, Bill Nelson, and Olympia J. Snowe. Obama has absolutely nothing to do with it and probably didn't even know it existed until it started getting press. As it is, it appears to only give the President temporary authorities over certain networks during a state of emergency in which the very infrastructure of the country is being threatened.
The bill only seems to allow for a temporary disconnect of these networks, and they are specifically named as being either Federal networks or networks that are critical infrastructure. In other words, things like power plants, water treatment centers, etc. The President is to designate several representatives from these different industries as well as cybersecurity experts to compose an advisory panel that would give recommendations to the President in much the same way his cabinet does. The President and his panel are also responsible for submitting a review of their plans and actions to Congress every year to show what has been done, what is to be done, and what they are doing.
The exact powers given to the President are outline in the bill, and while it's only 51 pages (about half of that has to do with scholarships for cybersecurity researchers and various structural provisions), I doubt you'll read anything but the headline of the article you posted. If you're interested in reading the exact wording of the bill regarding what it is the article is referring to, which is actually only one section of the bill, then here it is:
Note: The numbers on the far left of every line just indicate the number of the line. They aren't important to the actual text unless they're in parenthesis.
S.773 Sec.18 wrote:1 (2) may declare a cybersecurity emergency and
2 order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic
3 to and from any compromised Federal Government
4 or United States critical infrastructure information
5 system or network;
S.773 Sec.18 wrote:22 (6) may order the disconnection of any Federal
23 Government or United States critical infrastructure
24 information systems or networks in the interest of
25 national security;
As far as definitions are concerned
S.773 Sec.23 wrote:4 (2) CYBER.—The term ‘‘cyber’’ means—
5 (A) any process, program, or protocol re-
6 lating to the use of the Internet or an intranet,
7 automatic data processing or transmission, or
8 telecommunication via the Internet or an
9 intranet; and
10 (B) any matter relating to, or involving the
11 use of, computers or computer networks.
and...
S.773 Sec.23 wrote:12 (3) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND UNITED
13 STATES CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE INFORMATION
14 SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS.—The term ‘‘Federal Gov-
15 ernment and United States critical infrastructure in-
16 formation systems and networks’’ includes—
17 (A) Federal Government information sys-
18 tems and networks; and
19 (B) State, local, and nongovernmental in-
20 formation systems and networks in the United
21 States designated by the President as critical
22 infrastructure information systems and net-
23 works.
So even though Obama literally had no part in the drafting of this bill, nevertheless it is not in any way, shape, or form totalitarian in nature. Not only is the power limited, defined, and temporary, but it's also responsible to the oversight of Congress. That's called checks-and-balances, something totalitarian regimes don't have.
Read the Bill