Tag Archives: congress

EFF: Congress Shamefully Passes CISPA; Stop US Senate

from the Electronic Freedom Foundation

U.S. House of Representatives Shamefully Passes CISPA;

Internet Freedom Advocates Prepare for a Battle in the Senate

CISPA - The solution is the problem
CISPA – The solution is the problem (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)

Today, Internet freedom advocates everywhere turned their eyes to the U.S. House of Representatives as that legislative body considered the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act.

For the second year in a row,  the House voted to approve CISPA, a bill that would allow companies to bypass all existing privacy law to spy on communications and pass sensitive user data to the government.  EFF condemns the vote in the House and vows to continue the fight in the Senate.

“CISPA is a poorly drafted bill that would provide a gaping exception to bedrock privacy law,” EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl said. “While we all agree that our nation needs to address pressing Internet security issues, this bill sacrifices online privacy while failing to take common-sense steps to improve security.”

The legislation passed 288-127, despite a veto threat from Pres. Barack Obama, who expressed serious concerns about the danger CISPA poses to civil liberties.  Continue reading EFF: Congress Shamefully Passes CISPA; Stop US Senate

Bring Peace to your Town Board Meeting

The Bring the War $$ Home resolution passed by the US Conference of Mayors on June 20, 2011 is sparking a grassroots movement to end the wars in the Middle East and Africa and re-direct the funds to domestic priorities.  The resolution uses cautious language, stating a “drawdown of troops should be done in a measured way…” and “as soon as strategically possible” from Afghanistan and Iraq.  The resolution does not mention the wars in Libya, Yemen and Pakistan. Duke Augustus is working with other local peace activists to bring a similar (but stronger) resolution before his locality, and you should, too. A copy of the Conference of US Mayors resolution is reproduced at the end of this post.  (You may need to refresh to see the video below.)

Continue reading Bring Peace to your Town Board Meeting