Anonymous
issued a communique this morning via email that the group intends to disrupt the online streaming of President Obama's State of The Union Speech which he will give tonight at 9:00 PM.
The action is in response to a proposed executive order that would reinstate the most protested elements of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Information Act (CISPA).
The executive order has to do with requiring companies to institute protection against a breach of cyber security.
Obama’s first executive order is expected to be issued this week when the president calls for the creation of new standards on what private-sector companies must do to protect their computer systems from a cybersecurity breach.
The order is a direct response to Congress’ refusal to pass the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) last year, which the administration deemed crucial to prevent crippling attacks on the nation’s infrastructure. But members of Congress who opposed the legislation cited serious privacy concerns with giving the government greater access to Americans’ personal information that only private companies and servers might have access to.
Despite opposition from lawmakers, the president will use his executive powers to issue an order addressing cybersecurity initiatives.
“It is a very dangerous road he’s going down contrary to the spirit of the Constitution,” Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told the Washington Post. “Just because Congress doesn’t act doesn’t mean the president has a right to act.”
Full text of the communique below:
Article II, Sector 3 of the US Constitution, says the President “shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” At 9PM Eastern Standard Time, February [12], 2013 President Obama has planned to address a joint session of Congress to deliver the State of the Union Address. The following day, President Obama will be introducing an executive order, purportedly aimed at bolstering U.S. cybersecurity, after repeated failed attempts to pass legislation through Congress. Anonymous has reached a verdict of NO CONFIDENCE in this executive order and the plans to reintroduce the CISPA bill to Congress on the same day. As such, President Obama and the State of the Union Address will be BANISHED from the Internet for the duration of live delivery. So as not to infringe upon the President’s free speech, subsequent broadcasts will be allowed to pass unhindered. This action is being taken to underline a fact that appears to be sorely unrecognized by the Obama Administration — that the Internet is a sovereign territory, and does not fall under the jurisdiction of any nation state. We are the natives of this space, and its guardians, and we will fight until death to protect it as a neutral grounds for the unhindered interaction of all members of the human race, so long as they themselves act in harmony with this inviolable principle. Our determination is that President Obama is acting in direct contravention of this principle, and his brief exclusion is an educational, rather than a punitive measure. We hope that its lesson will be learnt. Punitive measures have not been ruled out. — Anonymous