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Hey Texans - hope you like 404 messages. The Texas CISPA-like bill, SB 1052 - is being debated today and may very well pass the Texas Legislature. The Texas CISPA bill could soon affect the ability of Texas users to access specific websites -- and every website and Internet provider in the country that serves data to Texans will be forced to comply with the law. Call Governor Rick Perry @ 512-463-1782 and tell him to veto the bill if it makes it to his desk.Supporters of the legislation have shortsightedly attempted to circumvent the national CISPA law by empowering...

It would appear that Rep. Mike Rogers, the main person in Congress pushing for CISPA, has kept rather quiet about a very direct conflict of interest that calls into serious question the entire bill. It would appear that Rogers' wife stands to benefit quite a lot from the passage of CISPA, and has helped in the push to get the bill passed. It's somewhat amazing that no one has really covered this part of the story, but it highlights, yet again, the kind of activities by folks in Congress that make the public trust Congress less and less. It has...

An attempt to ban US bosses from asking employees to hand over their Facebook login details has been blocked by Congress. A last minute alteration to the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) that would have prevented employers demanding that prospective employees disclose social media passwords as a condition of employment was voted down in the house of representatives. The proposal, put forward by Democrat Ed Perlmutter was defeated by a 224-189 majority.... Perlmutter said of his amendment before it was defeated: 'It helps the individual protect his right to privacy and it doesn't allow the employer to...

The controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) just passed the U.S. House, and will now head to the upper Senate chamber for further deliberation. Rinse and repeat. This isn't the first time this has happened, but it still poses a major threat to Fourth Amendment rights, according to civil liberties campaigners. The bill was passed 288-127 in favor of the bill after two days of debate and discussion on the House floor. Only 18 members of the House abstained from the vote. CISPA will allow private sector firms to search personal and sensitive user data of ordinary U.S....

Proposed amendment to CISPA says Internet companies' promises to protect customer privacy were legally enforceable. But then Republicans vote it down.

Summary: Dubbed as one of the most privacy infringing pieces of legislation ever to have hit the Capitol, what exactly is CISPA, and how does it affect you?Described as "misguided" and "fatally flawed" by the two largest U.S. privacy groups, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) threatens the online privacy of ordinary U.S. residents more so than any other bill since Congress amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 2008. A lot of confusion still surrounds what CISPA can do, who it affects, and what it will practically achieve. Here's what you need to know. What is CISPA?CISPA,...

Facebook no longer supports a controversial federal cybersecurity bill that would let U.S. companies share personal information with government agencies in ways currently prohibited by privacy laws. The social-networking company had previously applauded the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA, which was reintroduced last month. Facebook Vice President Joel Kaplan wrote a letter (PDF) last February to Rep. Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, "to commend you on your legislation," and Rogers sent out his own press release noting Facebook's "strong support" for the bill. But then groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the...

For three years Barack Hussein Obama and his handlers have labored to create a functioning dictatorship in the midst of a constitutional republic. It was shamefully easy at first. With unassailable majorities in House and Senate, even a Republican leadership unafraid to contest the excesses of the first black president would have been powerless to slow the implementation of his agenda. The left passed ObamaCare, giving itself the means of executing a calculated program of attrition against millions of reliably Republican seniors. At the same time, a corrupt Department of Justice worked to undermine the 2nd Amendment, interfered with the...

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), formerly the ranking member on the Intelligence Committee, voted against the measure. After the vote, she tweeted: "I voted no on #CISPA-it didn't strike the right balance & #GOP didn't allow amendments to strengthen privacy protections." Continue Reading Text Size - + reset The House adopted several amendments to the bill before passing it, including one by Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) that added a five-year sunset to the bill. But lawmakers voted to reject a motion to recommit by Rep. Ed Perlmuttter, who sought to add language specifying that nothing in the bill could be...

Former senator and current head of the Motion Picture Ass. of America Chris Dodd hopes to resurrect the reviled SOPA anti-piracy legislation in another form, but it appears the US House of Representatives is beating him to it a new bill that makes SOPA look sensible. Dodd, speaking in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, said that he hopes to get a new version of the SOPA legislation ready for debate shortly, and that the MPAA was marshaling its forces for another attack on piracy. Dodd said he was confident that the new legislation would go through, and said there...