Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) has shepherded CISPA, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, through the U.S. House. That’s good for the federal government, and bad for Americans.
According to the tech site CNET, the measure “would usher in a new era of information sharing between companies and government agencies — with limited oversight and privacy safeguards.” Privacy and civil liberties groups beg to differ.
While CISPA doesn’t require tech companies to snitch on their customers, it’s so loosely written that even the Congressional Research Service warns that it could have unintended consequences, and serve as a model for other legislation.
PC World magazine points out one benefit of the law: “CISPA allows the government to share classified information about security threats with select American companies.” But it also opens the door for more snoopervision, fed style. The conservative Heritage Foundation calls it a “sensible” measure, but the libertarian Cato Institute calls for a less sweeping measure that would “look very different from CISPA.” Click through to the CNET article to get to links to comments from other groups.
Don’t expect your telephone, cable, or Internet company to put up much of a fight. They’re in the business to make money, not statements in defense of personal freedoms. Plus, they know that the feds can shut them down, or at least make life miserable, if they fight.