Congress tucked CISA inside last night's budget bill

[LiberalArkie]

By Billy Steele

Last night's budget bill wasn't all about avoiding a government shutdown. Packed inside the 2,000-page bill announced by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) is the full text of the controversial Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) of 2015. If you'll recall, the measure passed the Senate back in October, leaving it up to the House to approve the bill that encourages businesses to share details of security breaches and cyber attacks.

Despite being labeled as cybersecurity legislation, critics of CISA argue that it's a surveillance bill that would allow companies to share user info with the US government and other businesses. As TechDirt points out], this version of the bill stripped important protections that would've prevented directly sharing details with the NSA and required any personally identifying details to be removed before being shared. It also removes restrictions on how the government can use the data.

A number of tech companies and privacy groups, including Apple and Dropbox, have publicly opposed the bill citing its "flawed approach" to improving cybersecurity. By tacking CISA on to an urgent budget bill, the chances that it'll pass the House are likely. As Congress looks to avoid a government shutdown, slipping the measure into desperately needed (2,000 pages) legislation is a good way for it to be overlooked.


Snip

http://www.engadget.com/2015/12/16/congress-tucked-cisa-in-budget-bill/

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20151215/06470133083/congress-drops-all-pretense-quietly-turns-cisa-into-full-surveillance-bill.shtml

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027452880

[Faux pas]

1. Oh gag!

You should put a warning up that his smarmy ugly mug appears.

[annabanana]

2. In the midst of our contentious wrangling over the primaries. I hope we don't take our eye

off the ball.

SO MUCH can get snuck in when we're distracted..

[LiberalArkie]

3. Might I recommend this link

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20151215/06470133083/congress-drops-all-pretense-quietly-turns-cisa-into-full-surveillance-bill.shtml

[Shandris]

4. Yeah, just in time to remove all protections and make sure it has to pass.

And people want me to pretend as if my vote matters. Please.

[Babel_17]

5. /. reporting on it now

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/15/12/16/1844217/cisa-surveillance-bill-hidden-inside-last-nights-budget-bill

[951-Riverside]

6. Its scary how controlled sites like reddit are not covering this.

If it werent for DU I would have never known about this.

[joshcryer]

7. They fucked up the algorithm over there.

But it's the top post now. No time to wage a campaign against it.