[telecom] Forget SOPA, You Should Be Worried About This Cybersecurity Bill

Forget SOPA, You Should Be Worried About This Cybersecurity Bill

by Mike Masnick Apr 2 2012 Techdirt

While most folks are looking elsewhere, it appears that Congress is trying to see if it can sneak an absolutely awful "cybersecurity" bill through Congress. We've discussed how there's been some fighting on the Senate side concerning which cybersecurity bill to support, but there's a similar battle going on in the House, and it appears that the Rogers-Ruppersberger bill, known as CISPA (for Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) or HR 3523 is winning out, with a planned attempt to move it through Congress later this month. The bill is awful -- and yet has somehow already gained over 100 sponsors. In an attempt to pretend that this isn't a "SOPA-like" problem, the supporters of this bill are highlighting the fact that Facebook, Microsoft and TechAmerica are supporting this bill.

However, this is a terrible bill for a variety of reasons. Even if we accept the mantra that new cybersecurity laws are needed (despite a near total lack of evidence to support this -- and, no, fearmongering about planes falling from the sky doesn't count), this bill has serious problems. As CDT warned when this bill first came out, it's way too broad and overreaching:

...

formatting link

Cyber Intelligence Bill Threatens Privacy and Civilian Control

formatting link

Comparison of Cybersecurity Information Sharing Legislation American Civil Liberties Union March 2012

formatting link

As the authors of the articles cited point out, CISPA /is/ a terrible bill, but not from the perspective of the Congress. I've written about SOPA in my blog

formatting link

and CISPA is the next step on the road that started with the Clipper chip and will end only when the cop in the woodpile and the cop on the corner and the cop knocking at your front door know everything you've done online and everyone you've written to.

There is a devious agenda in this and previous monitoring bills: Uncle Sam is scared silly that the lower classes will start using the tax havens and offshore banking previously reserved for the elites and their friends - in other words, the ruling class. Online banking is now so common that ordinary citizens are realizing that they can use a different URL and avoid the tax collector in the woodpile and the tax collector knocking at their front door, and that's something that right-thinking, loyal Americans aren't supposed to do.

Bill