Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) has turned out to be the most controversial legislation after SOPA and PIPA. If you think this doesn’t affect you in any way, I’m sorry to disappoint you because it surely does. You’re asking what CISPA means and if you should be worried about it, right? CISPA is a United States proposed law introduced on November 30, 2011 by U.S. Representative Michael Rogers and 29 co-sponsors. If this is passed into law, it’ll allow the government and private bodies to share information in an effort to combat cyber threats. It goes a lot deeper than this actually.
Unlike SOPA and PIPA which was widely seen as nothing but internet censorship and got withdrawn due to enormous protests from everyone including major internet companies, CISPA seems to be enjoying the support the previous bill never had. It’s been said that Facebook and Microsoft are some of the major supporters of this bill. As mentioned in an article I read this morning, CISPA now has over 100 co-sponsors.
Facts About Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA)
If this is passed to law, it’ll be a lot easier for the government and private bodies to share information in a case of cyber crime or related issues. This means your email can be intercepted and your private data can be accessed by the government or any other authorized body.
It’s a US bill but the fact of the matter is that it won’t affect Americans alone. According to EFF in a blog post, “The idea is to facilitate detection of and defense against a serious cyber threat, but the definitions in the bill go well beyond that. The language is so broad it could be used as a blunt instrument to attack websites like The Pirate Bay or WikiLeaks.”
It looks like a way to fight cyber crime effectively but still, it is a very dangerous bill that can clamp down on internet freedom and change the way we use the internet. The internet has a new enemy and it’s CISPA – you should oppose it if you use the internet at all. CISPA will allow monitoring, censorship and alteration of ANY online communication
As a global citizen, we should save the internet from the US government. This bill, if passed into law, will give them the power to spy on you anytime even without a warrant. SOPA was widely opposed and the internet blackout of Jan 18 made a big difference. This time, it’s unlikely there will be any black out but the bill already has an hashtag on twitter and protest is going on Avaaz website.
