Words, words, words!

Suddenly, CISPA

Once again, the government is trying to pass a law that is poorly written and has alarming potential to be abused.  This time, it’s being called CISPA.

If you’ve somehow managed to miss the existence of CISPA (I did, until very recently), and want to know more about it, I recommend this article.  It tells you what CISPA is, the arguments for and against, and gives you an idea what’s likely to happen next.  It also makes the point that the public’s reaction to the bill will likely affect what happens to it.

There is also The Washington Post’s article, which outlines why people are getting behind it, as well as who opposes it and why-I especially like the part where it points out how the government would have access to private information without needing a warrant to get it (be warned: once you’ve clicked through this article once, if you decide you want to go back to re-read it, they’ll tell you that you can’t unless you sign up).  And this article contains links to a radio debate about CISPA and the EFF’s “tweet your Senators” tool, as well as also presenting both sides of the CISPA debate. 

Combating cyberterrorism and protecting children from predators are both good things.  I’m all for that.  If that was all there was to this bill, I’d be writing this post in support of it.

This article does a pretty good job of explaining why, exactly, CISPA is a bad idea.  And this one doesn’t just tell you how CISPA could be abused, but also a better way to do what it’s supposed to do.

I can see how CISPA seems like a good idea, and in theory, it is.  Some of the roadblocks to the government/companies sharing important information should be taken out of the way, so that we can be better informed about/defended against cyber attacks.  And more protections for children online?  Also a good idea. 

But from what I can tell, CISPA itself is not a good idea.  It’s too vague in too many areas, leaves too much up to the government’s discretion, and has the potential to violate the privacy of American citizens in a major way.  The amendments made before it passed the House of Representatives aren’t enough-they don’t even really fix anything.  Congress needs to scrap CISPA and come up with a better plan-one that doesn’t violate our rights with a bunch of easily-exploitable loopholes.