Hello readers.
I promise later today to have something nicer up for you all to read, but right now we need to talk.
If you'll recall earlier this year, two bills were put before congress, SOPA and PIPA. These two bills were supposed to help combat piracy but instead they more or less offered the US Government unheard of power over the internet, and the vague definitions would have made the internet a very scary place to be, where freedom of speech couldn't be guaranteed and an entire site could be shut down because of elements out of their control. Thankfully both bills were stopped by an outpouring of support from people across all over the world.
Unfortunately, our rights are under attack once again by a bill that could be even more intimidating.
CISPA, or The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act is a bill that would allow the US government to effectively "spy" on citizens. It has intentionally vague wording that essentially allows corporations the ability to share just about any type of information with the federal government. There are limitations on what kinds of information may be shared, but broad language makes those limitations a moot point. E-mails and private messages through social networks are fair game under this bill. And unlike other cybersecurity bills, nothing in CISPA forces the removal of personally identifiable details. To sum it up, this bill allows private companies the ability to share almost any of your information as long as it pertains to a "cyber threat" which has a broad definition under this bill. It also allows the government to use the information for something other than cyber security. Internet Service Providers could monitor private communication on the internet as well. This bill is a huge invasion of privacy and puts too much faith in private corporations to safeguard their sensitive user data from intrusion by the government. The government has a wide array of ways to pressure these corporations into sharing large volumes of their users information. There is also no requirement for a company to alert affect users whatsoever.
While, like SOPA, this is a bill with good intentions at it's heart, it is ultimately much more harmful than helpful, the two bills have almost nothing in common, save that they affect the internet.
The problem we face is that this bill has gone largely unopposed up to this point, and it will be going to vote on Thursday, with a decision no later than Friday afternoon. If we don't act quick, CISPA WILL pass. Here's what you can do to stop this harmful legislation from passing:
- Contact your congressman. Call them and let them know what you think. If you don't know how to contact your states congress members by going here: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
- Sign the Avaaz petition. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_cispa/?slideshow
- Signup for this service that will ship postcards with a message to congress on it. It may be a bit late but you never know. http://sincerely.com/cause/cispa
- Spread the word immediately, and get as many people as you can to help protest as well.
- Even if you don't live in the US, this bill will hurt you too. You can help every bit as much as I can.
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