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Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 30,867
Master Elite Member
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Oppose Internet Censorship Bill:
CISPA
Attempts to gain control of the
Internet, or to implement government censorship of the Internet, continue
at an amazing frequency and intensity. An example of this is the Cyber
Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), H.R. 3523, with 106 cosponsors, which has been moved out
of committee and is ready to be taken up on the floor of the House later this
week.
CISPA is being framed as essential to
national security. Tech giants like Facebook, AT&T, IBM, Microsoft, and
Verizon favor the bill, unlike SOPA and PIPA which they opoosed and which had tech
companies enforcing government policy. This measure includes an exemption
of liability for those companies who take part in CISPA’s government
information exchange; tech companies would be protected from any
responsibility associated with regulating users.
The nuts and
bolts of CISPA would have the Director of National Intelligence appoint
members of the “intelligence community” as monitors of communications.
First, government security clearances for employees of private firms would
be granted. Then exchanges of information between government and private
companies would be considered “proprietary information” as the search for
“cyber threat intelligence” would be on.
Cyber threat intelligence
is defined as “information in the possession of an element of the
intelligence community directly pertaining to a vulnerability of, or
threat to, a system or network of a government or private entity,
including information pertaining to the protection of a system or network
from: (1) efforts to degrade, disrupt, or destroy such system or network;
or (2) theft or misappropriation of private or government information,
intellectual property, or personally identifiable information.”
The
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), dedicated to defending
constitutional rights in the digital world has analyzed CISPA’s vague terms:
“An ISP could use it to
monitor communications of subscribers for potential infringement of
intellectual property. An ISP could even interpret this bill as allowing
them to block accounts believed to be infringing, block access to websites
like The Pirate Bay believed to carry infringing content, or take other
measures provided they claimed it was motivated by cybersecurity
concerns.
"The language of ‘theft or misappropriation of private or
government information’ is equally concerning. Regardless of the intent of
this language, the end result is that the government and Internet
companies could use this language to block sites like WikiLeaks and
NewYorkTimes.com, both of which have published classified
information.”
Your ISP could intercept every email or text
message you send and notify the government of the content of your personal
communications under the umbrella of “cybersecurity” concerns. Also, under
CISPA, a warrantless cyber wiretapping program totally disregarding the
Fourth Amendment protections could become routine.
Another
troubling provision in the bill is the one that “supersedes any statute of
a State or political subdivision of a State that restricts or otherwise
expressly regulates” the new government/private sector information
exchange spy program. No state nullification for government cyber spying
would be allowed!
Ex-White House "Cyber Czar" Richard Clarke has even
recommended that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) be empowered to
monitor everything that goes in and out of America’s online
infrastructure. But even worse, Clarke says if Congress won’t acquiesce in
the matter, this all-encompassing monitoring authority for the DHS could
be established by circumvention: “If Congress will not act to protect
America’s companies from Chinese cyberthreats, President Obama
must.”
Internet freedom lovers and civil rights patriots
need to unite to educate others and especially Congressmen on the
censorship and privacy rights dangers of CISPA immediately. Many supposed
“conservatives” in Congress are in favor of this bill, such as Michelle
Bachmann (Minn.), Darrell Issa (Calif.), Dave Camp (Mich.), Patrick Henry
(N.C.), Mike Rogers (Mich.), Fred Upton (Mich.), Joe Wilson (S.C.) and Joe
Pitts (Pa.).
Send a message today to your Representative and Senators
about the dangers of the CISPA
bill.
Thanks.
Your Friends at The John Birch
Society |
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Entire Thread
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Oppose Internet Censorship Bill: CISPA
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Russ
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04/25/12 01:39 PM
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