So, How Upset Should We Be About CISPA?

Image from source, Think Progress.

Remember a few months ago when many on the internet (Greenlee Gazette included) were trumpeting the "STOP SOPA" message? There were twin bills in the houses of Congress, SOPA and PIPA, and both were attempts to deal with 21st Century media and communications. But they went way too far, and had so many (hopefully) unintended consequences, that the internet rose up--with the help of Facebook and other heavy hitters--and slew SOPA and PIPA. Hallelujah!

So, why is Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) sneaking under the radar, seemingly with the support of companies like Facebook? It seems once again to be a bit of legislation with arguably good intentions, but with hideous, odious potential consequences. For me, the parts that seem absolutely nuts, are provisions that make it exempt from other laws. It's almost like an asterisk on the Constitution's bill of rights. Can a law like that be Constitutional? Would we trust the current Supreme Court, post-Citizens United, post-we can strip search you for a parking offense Roberts court to rule on it? Where's George Clooney? Brad Pitt? Sean Penn? This seems like it needs more focus.

[Excerpt]

What Everyone Who Uses The Internet Needs To Know About CISPA 

CISPA’s broad language will likely give the government access to anyone’s personal information with few privacy protections: CISPA allows the government access to any “information pertaining directly to a vulnerability of, or threat to, a system or network of a government or private entity.” There is little indication of what this information could include, and what it means to be ‘pertinent’ to cyber security. Without boundaries, any internet user’s personal, private information would likely be fair game for the government. . .

Read (much, much) more at: Think Progress