Dem senators ask tech giants Facebook, Google, Apple for cybersecurity support. Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) are asking the chief executives of Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple and other major tech companies to back their revised cybersecurity bill. In letters sent to more than a dozen tech CEOs, the two Senate Democrats note the latest version of the bill includes "voluntary provisions on critical infrastructure protection" and updates to measures aimed at improving information sharing about cyberthreats between government and industry.
The move is aimed at drumming up industry support ahead of possible Senate action on the bill later this week. In the letter, Rockefeller and Feinstein noted the outreach made to tech industry groups during the crafting of the cybersecurity bill. The technical language included in the bill was largely developed in partnership with "your industry," the two senators wrote. Top congressional staffer to lead new Internet lobbying group. Net Neutrality Violates the First and Fifth Amendments. This blogpost was co-authored by legal associate Matt Gilliam. In December 2010, the FCC adopted Preserving the Open Internet, a “network neutrality” order regulating broadband internet access service. Issued under authority (ostensibly) derived from 24 disparate provisions of federal communications law, Preserving the Open Internet is predicated on three basic rules: transparency, no blocking, and no discrimination. Broadly speaking, “transparency” requires broadband providers to “disclose network management practices, performance characteristics, and terms and conditions of services.”
The “no blocking” rule forbids fixed broadband providers from “blocking lawful content, applications, services, and non-harmful devices.” Meanwhile, mobile broadband providers are restricted from blocking “lawful websites” and certain applications. The “No Discrimination” rule prohibits broadband providers from unreasonable discrimination in transmitting lawful network traffic.
The case of Verizon v. Google to Warn You If You’re Account Is Compromised in a State-Sponsored Attack. BEIJING (The Blaze/AP) – ”Warning: We believe state-sponsored attackers may be trying to compromise your account or computer.” This is the message you will see from Google from now on should your account ever become compromised. The company announced that it added this feature Tuesday as a precaution for users. Although Google didn’t specify a specific government, it did closed its search engine in China in 2010 after saying it no longer wanted to cooperate with Beijing’s Internet censorship following hacking attacks traced to China. Here's what Google's warning would look like. (Image: Google Online Security Blog) In a blog post, Vice President of Security Engineering Eric Grosse wrote: If you see this warning it does not necessarily mean that your account has been hijacked. Google cannot say how it knows activity is state-sponsored without giving information that would help attackers, Grosse wrote.
Here are a couple things Grosse suggests you do if you see this message: The Fight Against Copyright Enforcement & The Fight For Civil Liberties Are The Same. With the ongoing success of the world's Pirate parties, I've seen the copyright industry start to push back, claiming that copyright enforcement can't be tied to civil liberties; that they are two separate issues. That's not a true statement from the copyright industry. The whole point of the fight for net liberties is that the copyright monopoly cannot be enforced without cutting down civil liberties.
Here's why. Before the net, if you wanted to send a copy of something that was protected under the copyright monopoly, it was an absolute given that you could do so. You would send that copy in the mail without a single thought of repercussions. You could send copies of drawings, you could send mixtapes of music, you could send copied movies. The problem recently is that civil servants, not politicians, have been tasked with upholding the copyright monopoly.
For when I send a piece of music in an e-mail to somebody, I typically violate the copyright monopoly. Let me explain. KeepTheWebOpen.com. Google's Sergey Brin: Facebook and Apple a threat to Internet freedom | Internet & Media. In an interview with the Guardian, Google co-founder Sergey Brin warned that the "open" Internet is in danger from very powerful forces, including Facebook and Apple. "I am more worried than I have been in the past ... it's scary," he said Brin identified the serious threats to the open Internet as repressive governments trying to control access to the Internet, entertainment industry crackdowns on piracy and so-called "wall gardens" that maintain more strict control over what can be done on their technology platforms, citing Facebook and Apple. He said that Facebook and Apple are stifling innovation and risk Balkanizing the Web, and went as far as to say that Google would never have come into existence if Facebook were dominant.
"You have to play by their rules, which are really restrictive. Of course, there is some self-interest and sour grapes in Brin's assessment. Opposition grows to CISPA 'Big Brother' cybersecurity bill | Privacy Inc. Last-minute opposition to the CISPA, which has been criticized as a "Big Brother" cybersecurity bill, is growing as the U.S. House of Representatives prepares for a vote this week.
Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas Republican and presidential candidate, warned in a statement and YouTube video today that CISPA (PDF) represents the "latest assault on Internet freedom. " Paul warned that "CISPA is Big Brother writ large," and said that he hopes that "the public responds to CISPA as it did to SOPA back in January . " In addition, 18 Democratic House members signed a letter (PDF) this afternoon warning that CISPA "does not include necessary safeguards" and that critics have raised "real and serious privacy concerns. " Excerpts from the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act: The term 'self-protected entity' means an entity, other than an individual, that provides goods or services for cybersecurity purposes to itself.
" It's hardly clear, however, that this wave of opposition will be sufficient. Rep. White House takes aim at CISPA with formal veto threat | Privacy Inc. The White House today escalated its opposition to a cybersecurity-related surveillance bill with a formal veto threat. In a new statement, the White House's Office of Management and Budget said that the CISPA bill endangered Americans' privacy and inappropriately shielded private companies from liability. The statement suggests that CISPA -- also known as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act -- goes too far by giving the National Security Agency too much power: H.R. 3523 effectively treats domestic cybersecurity as an intelligence activity and thus, significantly departs from longstanding efforts to treat the Internet and cyberspace as civilian spheres.
The Administration believes that a civilian agency -- the Department of Homeland Security -- must have a central role in domestic cybersecurity, including for conducting and overseeing the exchange of cybersecurity information with the private sector and with sector-specific Federal agencies. CISPA Is Up For Vote This Week: Help Kill It Now. Oppose CISPA and Unfettered Access to Americans' Internet Activity.
Monthly donors (our Guardians of Liberty) enable us to respond to urgent threats to our civil liberties. They provide us with the resources to stop: Attempts to suppress free speech Politicians from denying women reproductive freedom Racially-biased practices in our criminal justice system Join today with a monthly donation. Frequently Asked Questions about the Guardians of Liberty Program Where does my money go? Your contributions go to support our critical programs in many areas. What payment methods do you accept? When will I be charged? Can I change my donation? Can I cancel? Will I still need to renew my membership? Are my monthly gifts tax-deductible? CISPA Bill Update: A Few Things to Note As The Cybersecurity Bill Heads To Congress | Analysis, Breaking News, Experts Exchange Tech News Blog. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, also known as the CISPA, is headed to the House of Representatives this week.
Scheduled for debate on Thursday, April 26, the CISPA bill—which will be deliberated alongside another cybersecurity bill known as the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act (PDF)—is expected to see a vote no later than 3pm (ET) Friday afternoon. As the time rapidly approaches, the bill’s opponents have wasted no time making their voices heard. In fact, one petition against CISPA posted on Avaaz.org has already accumulated more than 750,000 signatures. And that’s just one out of dozens of anti-CISPA petitions being circulated by rights groups. Opposition To The CISPA Bill Is Growing Joining the ranks of the opposition this week, former BitTorrent executive John Pettit added his name to an open letter published Monday night expressing concern over the cybersecurity bill.
Speaking further with Raw Story on the matter, Pettit continued: Pettit agrees. House approves CISPA despite last-minute push by opponents | Privacy Inc. The U.S. House of Representatives today approved a controversial Internet surveillance bill , rejecting increasingly vocal arguments from critics that it would do more to endanger Americans' privacy than aid cybersecurity. By a vote of 248 to 168, a bipartisan majority approved the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA, which would permit Internet companies to hand over confidential customer records and communications to the National Security Agency and other portions of the U.S. government.
CISPA would "waive every single privacy law ever enacted in the name of cybersecurity," said Rep. Jared Polis, a Colorado Democrat, during today's marathon floor debate. Americans' confidential information that could legally provided to the feds would "include health records, it can include firearm registration information, it can include credit card information," warned Polis, a former Web entrepreneur who was a leader in opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act as well. Rep. House Passes CISPA: Make Sure It Dies In The Senate. House Passes CISPA: Make Sure It Dies In The Senate We pushed them to the brink, but House Republicans rammed through CISPA this afternoon, ahead of schedule. Let's make sure it dies in the Senate: Please add your name at right. CISPA would give the government and corporations vast new powers to track and share data about Americans' Internet use. But our hundreds of thousands of emails and tens of thousands of phone calls have had a real impact: Amendments were adopted that made CISPA (marginally) better.Earlier this month CISPA was supposed to sail through, but we helped foment opposition, and the vote was far closer than anybody could have imagined even a couple of weeks ago.Most Democrats held firm in opposition, and more than two dozen libertarian-leaning Republicans defied their leadership and voted no.Most importantly, President Obama has threatened to veto CISPA.
The Senate will consider cyber security legislation in the coming weeks. Google challenges China censorship with new search tool. BEIJING – Google has begun notifying Chinese users when they are using search terms that can trigger China's Internet blocks, in its boldest challenge in two years to Beijing's efforts to restrict online content. The search giant unveiled on its Chinese site this week a new mechanism that identifies political and other sensitive terms that are censored by Chinese authorities. For example, when users search for keywords like "carrot" -- which contains the character for Chinese president Hu Jintao's surname -- a yellow dropdown message says: "We've observed that searching for 'hu' in mainland China may temporarily break your connection to Google.
This interruption is outside Google's control. " 'We've observed that searching for 'hu' in mainland China may temporarily break your connection to Google. Google acknowledged on its official blog Thursday that users in China are having trouble accessing its services, saying failed searches can impair performance on the site.