This week, Access joins a coalition of Internet advocacy organizations in a week of action to express our opposition to the U.S. Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA).
If CISPA rings a bell, it’s because it’s the exact same terrible bill the U.S. Congress was debating last year before stalling in the Senate. And like a zombie, it’s back from the dead: lawmakers have been holding hearings and are aggressively pushing for the bill’s passage next month.
CISPA’s provisions would let private sector companies indiscriminately share user information with the U.S. government, without oversight or due process, and with full immunity for their actions. This information could be used for purposes far beyond cybersecurity, including any national security concern, and shared with military and intelligence agencies with limited public oversight.
If CISPA passes, it won’t just affect Internet users in the United States. It will set a dangerous precedent for the rest of the world, and threaten the privacy of millions of people who communicate on networks crossing U.S. jurisdiction or use services based in the United States, like Facebook, Twitter, and Google.
The coalition of organizations fighting CISPA agree: legislation intended to enhance our computer and network security must not sacrifice long-standing rights and protections.
You can take action to stop this bill. Tell two of its largest corporate sponsors, AT&T and Verizon, to drop their support for CISPA.
Other ways to participate include:
- If you’re a US citizen, contact your representative to tell them to vote “NO” on CISPA.
- If you’re outside the US, tell Obama to veto CISPA.
- Tweet at Congress and tell them why you oppose this bill.
- Join the Internet Defense League, and add your site to a global network.
Coalition participants include:
Access
ACLU
Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit
American Library Association
Association of Research Libraries
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Center for Democracy & Technology
Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Daily Kos
Demand Progress
DownsizeDC.org
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Entertainment Consumers Association
Fight for the Future
Free Press
Government Accountability Project
Internet Defense League
Liberty Coalition
Namecheap
New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute
NY Tech Meetup
OpenMedia
Personal Democracy Media
Politihacks
TechFreedom