CISPA Bill Obliterates Privacy Laws With Blank Check of Privacy Invasion 192
MojoKid writes "At present, the government's ability to share data on its citizens is fairly restricted, insomuch as the various agencies must demonstrate cause and need. This has created a somewhat byzantine network of guidelines and laws that must be followed — a morass of red tape that CISPA is intended to cut through. One of the bill's key passages is a provision that gives private companies the right to share cybersecurity data with each other and with the government 'notwithstanding any other provision of law.' The problem with this sort of blank check clause is that, even if the people who write the law have only good intentions, it provides substantial legal cover to others who might not. Further, the core problem with most of the proposed amendments to the bill thus far isn't that they don't provide necessary protections, it's that they seek to bind the length of time the government can keep the data it gathers, or the sorts of people it can't collect data on, rather than protecting citizens as a whole. One proposed amendment, for example, would make it illegal to monitor protesters — but not other groups. It's not hard to see how those seeking to abuse the law could find a workaround — a 'protester' is just a quick arrest away from being considered a 'possible criminal risk.'"
Home of the free and the land of the brave? (Score:5, Insightful)
How does surrendering our freedom out of fear match up with our motto?
Despair is starting to set in (Score:5, Insightful)
The pace is accelerating.
We need some kind of Tracking-Data-Armageddon security breach to make the common citizens wake up and realize that we're all just going to stare at each other in a dystopian fishbowl forever while everything just becomes more unfair.
(Satire)
That's all I can type now because I used up my monthly ascii character quota on two tweets of data for $99.95.
(/Satire)
Re:Home of the free and the land of the brave? (Score:4, Insightful)
Bravery and freedom changed meanings. Now they mean bravery to commit acts of violence and freedom to attempt to control the world. Who needs personal liberty when individuals are only interested in games and trivialities -- sports, music, TV, movies, politics, books, parties?
Re:Resisting Arrest (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm not sure I see the issue here. An officer can arrest you if he has good cause to (you match the description of a suspect in the area, etc.). This is the original reason you are being arrested. It may later be determined that you didn't commit a crime, and then no charges are filed.
If, however, you resist this arrest, you are then charged with resisting arrest. Simply because you think you didn't do anything wrong doesn't give you just cause to resist the arresting officer.
You don't need to commit any actual crime.
You consider resisting arrest not an 'actual crime'? Are you saying that officers don't have the authority to arrest people?
Re:Always assume evil intent (Score:4, Insightful)
....The president could then define what treatments must be covered, what may not be covered, what might not be paid for by gov and so forth....
You mean as private insurers currently do?
Re:Resisting Arrest (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Resisting Arrest (Score:4, Insightful)
This is lost on most of the right-wing assholes who worship the thugs-in-blue, however.
I dont know any right-wing assholes that worship the thugs in blue, and Im a right wing asshole. Seriously, why does this always end up being a left/right issue? Maybe left-wing assholes think its OK to abuse right-wing assholes and vice versa, but I'd hazard to say "this is lost on people whose party affiliation is more important than their objectivity' which seems to be just about everyone these days. I was 100% with you until that last sentence sand-bagged any credibility you built up to that point.
Re:Home of the free and the land of the brave? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Home of the free and the land of the brave? (Score:5, Insightful)
The NDAA passed by veto proof majority, and when he tried to close Gitmo the Republicans blocked all funding for the closure.
The GOP strategy for years now had been to block any and all improvement, and then complain that Obama didn't improve things. If the voters are dumb enough to fall for it, then democracy is over. Either the democrats will adopt the same tactics and we'll have no government at all, or they won't and we'll have single party rule.
Re:Home of the free and the land of the brave? (Score:3, Insightful)
Just to clarify: that includes OWS, anti-war groups, med marijuana growers, etc.
The right doesn't have a monopoly on "being persecuted".
Re:Home of the free and the land of the brave? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Despair is starting to set in (Score:3, Insightful)