In a rather bizarre twist today the vote on the CIPSA bill was moved forward and hurriedly pushed through.
First off, what is the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act or CISPA?
From Wikipedia (yes, I quoted Wikipedia, get over it):
The bill would allow the voluntary sharing of attack and threat information between the U.S. government and security cleared technology and manufacturing companies to ensure the security of networks against patterns of attack;[5][dead link] the most recent version of the CISPA bill may remove any reference to intellectual property.[6][clarification needed] Several commentators have distinguished CISPA from the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill.[7][8][clarification needed] CISPA was reported out of committee on December 1, 2011.[9] CISPA has been criticized by advocates of Internet privacy and neutrality, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Avaaz.org, because they feel it contains too few limits on how and when the government may monitor private information when it might become collaterally entangled in the process of passing threat information, and too few safeguards with respect to how the data may be used; they fear that such new powers may be used to find and punish file sharers and copyright infringers rather than the stated foreign spies or hackers.
OK, got it. That sounds less than appealing.
From Computer World:
Civil liberties groups, including the Center for Democracy and Technology and the American Civil Liberties Union, have opposed the bill, saying it would open up Internet communications to snooping by government agencies, including the U.S. National Security Agency.
It is a bill that does smell rather foul. Earlier revisions of the bill were less insidious but, there were multiple amendments tacked onto the bill just prior to voting today.
Example from Techdirt:
Previously, CISPA allowed the government to use information for “cybersecurity” or “national security” purposes. Those purposes have not been limited or removed. Instead, three more valid uses have been added: investigation and prosecution of cybersecurity crime, protection of individuals, and protection of children. Cybersecurity crime is defined as any crime involving network disruption or hacking, plus any violation of the CFAA.
Oh lovely…there it is again. Invoking the “protect kids” angle. This is a puerile ploy on the part of legislators to push through unsavoury legislation. “Well, if you don’t support this bill you support child molesters”. This of course is NOT the case. Sadly, too many voters happily gobble up the pablum they’ve been served.
Then there are the supporters…
But supporters argued the bill is needed to help private companies and government agencies fight cyberattacks. “There are people today who are literally robbing the future of America” by attacking U.S. companies, said Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican and lead sponsor of CISPA. “This is the one small thing we get to do to prepare for a bunch of folks who want to bring us down.”
I’m sorry but, I’ll just say it… COMPLETE BULLSHIT.
A doctoral dissertation on that matter would not encompass the depth my sentiment any better than that.
So, who did vote in favour of this piece of legislation? Here is the list of Congress critters that voted yes on CISPA.
Pull your ankles up to your chest America.
This is gonna sting.
Source: Article Link
(Image used under CC from Ano Lobb)
