Here's an astounding tell on the real intent behind the so-called cybersecurity bill, CISPA, from former Department of Homeland Security official Stuart Baker (via TechDirt).
CISPA purports to be protecting the nation's critical infrastructure systems—electrical and communications grids, water system, transportation systems, etc.—from hacking attacks. What's that got to do with homegrown discontents planting homemade bombs in large crowds? Not a lot.
But Baker's little foray into the Shock Doctrine tells the real truth: CISPA is a lot less about making sure those systems are secure than creating even more surveillance on American citizens. In fact, there's a lot more in the bill about private companies being able to share their customers' sensitive online information—financial records, health records, communications, purchases—with any other company or with the federal government, including the National Security Agency, than there is about what companies are required to do to make their systems more secure. This is all about stripping way the last vestiges of privacy rights.
At least Baker's crass attempt to politicize the Boston tragedy does us the favor of exposing the real purpose of the law. Tell your senators not to fall for it, and to scrap this bad bill.