Yesterday the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly (248-168) to pass the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 3523), known as CISPA. I don’t usually express opinions per se here, but this time I will: I find this intolerable
I acknowledge that things are getting very dicey in the cyber world, and that there is increasing need for some base-level regulation. However, the bill the House passed is so filled with incursions to our civil liberties that I must say clearly and loudly that those who voted for it are doing the networked world a disservice—to say the least.
Privacy protections have been eviscerated by the CISPA, allowing The Authorities—whoever they are, really—to request and be given masses of personal information without probable cause or the buffers offered by judges and the need for approved warrants. Further, apparently information so obtained may be shared with other agencies, and we all know too well how strongly such agencies guard such information, i.e., almost not at all (think Wikileaks). There is far more that it wrong with this bill, so I urge you to investigate for yourself.
Questions: What do you do when faced with a situation that you find intolerable? Do you actually do anything? Why or why not? What recourse do you have when faced with the consequences if you choose not to act?