By: Daniel Nardini
I have come to the conclusion that the U.S. House of Representatives simply does not read carefully the legislation they pass. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), introduced by Michael Rogers (Republican-Michigan), is aimed at fighting intellectual piracy and will allow the federal and state governments to investigate and fight any cyber attacks from within and outside the United States. The law also helps companies to share information with the federal government on any Internal and cyber espionage. The legislation is an amendment to the National Security Act of 1947 which does not cover cyber crime.
This all may sound nice and fine except that the legislation does not have any real constitutional safeguards. The legislation would not stop the U.S. government from accessing private e-mails and computer information from any individual or groups if it was deemed as fighting cyber crime and espionage. This violates the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits the federal or state governments from violating anyone’s privacy without due probable cause and due process. Another problem with this legislation is that it can allow the federal government to access peoples’ private records such as medical data, employment information, and confidential files stored in a person’s database or company records without that person’s knowledge or consent. Worse, the legislation grants companies broad immunity from civil and criminal prosecution.
So much of this legislation is in violation of the fourth and fifth amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and civil liberty groups are justifiably up-in-arms against it like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Surprisingly, many conservative groups are equally against this legislation such as Americans for Limited Government, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Libertarian Party, and the American Conservative Union. Many advisers to U.S. President Barack Obama have urged the president to veto the legislation should it come to his desk. Obama had vetoed similar legislation, and the chances are he may veto this. Still, there is a question whether this will become law. If it does it could be a very dangerous precedent for the country just like the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 were.
The CISPA
By: Daniel Nardini
This all may sound nice and fine except that the legislation does not have any real constitutional safeguards. The legislation would not stop the U.S. government from accessing private e-mails and computer information from any individual or groups if it was deemed as fighting cyber crime and espionage. This violates the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits the federal or state governments from violating anyone’s privacy without due probable cause and due process. Another problem with this legislation is that it can allow the federal government to access peoples’ private records such as medical data, employment information, and confidential files stored in a person’s database or company records without that person’s knowledge or consent. Worse, the legislation grants companies broad immunity from civil and criminal prosecution.
So much of this legislation is in violation of the fourth and fifth amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and civil liberty groups are justifiably up-in-arms against it like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Surprisingly, many conservative groups are equally against this legislation such as Americans for Limited Government, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Libertarian Party, and the American Conservative Union. Many advisers to U.S. President Barack Obama have urged the president to veto the legislation should it come to his desk. Obama had vetoed similar legislation, and the chances are he may veto this. Still, there is a question whether this will become law. If it does it could be a very dangerous precedent for the country just like the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 were.