Digital Bill of Rights. A working draft from Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Hat tip: Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence.
Digital Bill of Rights. A working draft from Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Netizens1 got upset about SOPA/PIPA. We rose up and defeated the terrible bills even though a technical workaround existed before the vote was called.
Now that CISPA is upon us2, we are getting upset again. “Please vote no! We don’t want the government reading our online files.” Yet we continue to send and store our personal information on the Internet equivalent of a postcard.3
A technical solution to CISPA could exist and should have been readily available years ago. Yet, strong encryption is not commonly used. Maybe after CISPA passes, we will finally demand the encryption we need to safely store our information in the cloud.
After all, the government isn’t alone in wanting to read our private information.
What do you think?
I don’t trust President Obama. I don’t trust his promises. I don’t trust his ability to do the right thing.
In the big scheme of things, indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without trial is much more important to our theory of government than SOPA/PIPA, yet Obama signed the NDAA after promising a veto. Obama understood the issues — he signed it anyway.1
The only way to make sure Obama doesn’t sign SOPA/PIPA into law is to make sure the bill never gets to his desk.
Your voices must continue to be heard. My letter to the Internet: wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 18, 2012
Many are celebrating the death of SOPA and PIPA, as the White House issued a statement against some of their key provisions this past Saturday.
I’m not so excited. President Obama’s statement fell short of a veto threat. And remember: President Obama made an unambiguous veto threat against NDAA, which authorizes indefinite detention of US citizens without trial, and still signed it.
We celebrate premature success at our own peril.