The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) is quickly becoming “the new SOPA/PIPA”, though it’s not exactly the same, it does open for some of the same worries as SOPA and PIPA did.
If you want to read the full text of the bill, you can do that here, or scroll to the bottom of this page for the official summary.
CISPA was unveiled late 2011 by Rep. C.A. Ruppersberger (D-MD) And Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) and is descriped as a cybersecurity bill that defines “cyber threat intelligence” as any information related to the vulnerabilities of, or threats to, networks or systems owned and operated by US government or US companies. CISPA will remove any liability from private companies who collect and share information with the government, or with each other, related to sharing of “cyber threat intelligence”.
CISPA currently has a lot more support in the House than SOPA ever had, it has 106 co-sponsors and it also has support from major companies such as Facebook, AT&T, IBM and Intel.
The bill itself is probably not that bad, the problem is its “broad language” which opens up for a very loose interpretation of the bill, in ways that very likely could infringe on civil liberties.
Here’s how Center for Democracy & Technology sums it up:
- The bill has a very broad, almost unlimited definition of the information that can be shared with government agencies notwithstanding privacy and other laws;
- The bill is likely to lead to expansion of the government’s role in the monitoring of private communications as a result of this sharing;
- It is likely to shift control of government cybersecurity efforts from civilian agencies to the military;
- Once the information is shared with the government, it wouldn’t have to be used for cybersecurity, but could instead be used for any purpose that is not specifically prohibited.
There are almost no restrictions on what data can be collected and how it can be used. For example, Google could intercept your e-mails and send copies to other companies and/or the government, or they could modify your e-mail to avoid it reaching its destination, if it fits into their plan to “stop cybersecurity threats”.
Buckle up, because it’s only a matter of short time before the Internet will start boiling again, like with SOPA/PIPA, as CISPA gets more and more news coverage and people once again understand that their civil rights are about to be challenged. Some day I’m sure a similar bill will pass, but hopefully it will be one that is properly defined, and not CISPA.
Good information share abut Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA).
What anonymous has been doing over the past 2 years or so probably is a big factor in all this.
Big brother is watching. We all need to post less, text chat less, and use fax machine more.
Complete control is what they want. The illuminati want more and more control and information gives them the ultimate power.
First is SOPA and then something little less bad, so when we compare it to SOPA we can let it slide. I know all their tricks. Its simple marketing approach.
The good thing is that if Facebook approves it, then it could not hurt sharing since if it does then Facebook will be gone.
I am not sure if i am against CISPA because i do not know a lot about it. What i know is that piracy has to stop but not with enormous sideeffects.