What is CISPA?

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) is a new bill being introduced in Congress that is aiming to avert the ongoing cyber attacks that have occurred recently. If passed through Congress, the bill would allow the government access to personal correspondence of any person of their choosing.

It is feared that CISPA is far worse than SOPA and PIPA in its possible effects on the internet. The title of this controversial act is H.R. 3523. The wording of the paper is very vague and broad. It is thought that the act could allow Congress to circumvent existing exemptions to online privacy laws, and would allow the monitoring and censorship of any user of the internet. It would also allow the government to stop online communications which they deem disruptive to them, or other private parties.The Center for Democracy and Technology released a press release last month warning that CISPA would allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to “funnel private communications and related information back to the government without adequate privacy protections and controls. The bill does not specify which agencies ISPs could disclose customer data to, but the structure and incentives in the bill raise a very real possibility that the National Security Agency or the DOD’s Cybercommand would be the primary recipient.”

What are the implications of CISPA?

If what has been reported is true, CISPA effectively creates a “cybersecurity” exemption to all existing laws. This means the government would effectively have control over the entire internet, and would be able to censor anything they deem as a “threat” to national security. What is deemed a threat? Well, that is up for them to interpret. With the power they would have, it would enable them to interpret anything as a potential “threat” if they really wanted to.

This is just another step towards having our freedom stripped away even further. As we have moved throughout history, our very own government has slowly diminished the very freedoms we were promised at the inception of this “democracy.” While it may not appear obvious (they hide it very well), each new bill that is introduced and passed in Congress contains many clauses that most Americans aren’t even aware of. There are numerous items that slip under the radar if we don’t examine each new bill and law very closely.

Most people won’t go out of their way to investigate. Most people will hear the positive spin play over and over in the news, and accept that something is being done to benefit our society. It has been proven time and time again how these new laws and regulations are only put in place to funnel more power into our governing body. As time passes by, each new law slowly exposes its true self, and its weaknesses in protecting our basic freedoms.

Maybe it is time we all start fighting back to protect our freedom that is being stripped from us in front of our very eyes.

Source: http://digitaljournal.com/article/322396