Vile
The House Judiciary Committee just approved a bill (H.R. 1981) requiring Internet service providers to spy on their users and retain 12 months of data -- data that could be used to identify where you surf and what you post online. From the Electronic Frontier Foundation, quoting their Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston:
The data retention mandate in this bill would treat every Internet user like a criminal and threaten the online privacy and free speech rights of every American, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have recognized. Requiring Internet companies to redesign and reconfigure their systems to facilitate government surveillance of Americans' expressive activities is simply un-American. Such a scheme would be as objectionable to our Founders as the requiring of licenses for printing presses or the banning of anonymous pamphlets. Today's vote is therefore very disappointing, but we are especially thankful to GOP Representatives Sensenbrenner, Issa and Chaffetz, who chose principle over party-line in opposing this dangerous tech mandate. We hope that bipartisan opposition will grow as the bill makes its way to the House floor and more lawmakers are educated about this anti-privacy, anti-free speech, anti-innovation proposal.
Every time we let our rights be grabbed without a peep it makes it that much easier to take a big fistful of them the next time. Speak up, sheeple!
UPDATE: To make it a little easier for you to speak up, here's the link to get your Congressperson's (or Congressturd's) email address, and a letter by 2Wolves1Sheep:
I am writing in strong opposition to HR 1981 ("Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011″) due to its provision mandating that Internet Service Providers maintain 12 months of personal information, including browsing and posting activity.This bill that you co-sponsored is a direct assault on my right to privacy. In your admirable zeal to protect children, you have discarded the right to privacy for millions of Americans, and this is shameful.
I am certain that children can be protected without invasive, big brother monitoring of the activities of law-abiding citizens. I hope that when this bill comes to the floor you will support amendments to strike that provision from the bill. If not, it looks like I will need to count on other peoples' representatives to look out for me and my rights.
It's so easy. I just sent this message above to my nitwit of a representative, the just-elected Janice Hahn. Click and send! Click and send! In the age of the Internet, it's easy to make your voice heard. Speak out to defend our rights...now...today!







Problem is, the general public doesn't know these things are in the works until it's too damn late. Congress doesn't warn us beforehand about shit they're trying to take away from us. The only way
bipartisan opposition will grow as the bill makes its way to the House floor and more lawmakers are educated about this anti-privacy, anti-free speech, anti-innovation proposal is if we the people start bitching to our representatives NOW and not once the bill has passed. They're not going to oppose it if we don't let them know WE do.
Flynne at August 3, 2011 6:48 AM
This isn't news that people are interested in. Not as much as Rupert Murdoch's hacking case.
hanmeng at August 3, 2011 7:16 AM
We must get all the idiots who voted for this, and other bills that take away our rights, OUT of office. OUT OUT OUT. They are FIRED! They are not listening to us anymore, that is so very obvious.
Melody at August 3, 2011 7:19 AM
Support the EFF here and get something back in return. Pay what you want for six pretty cool indie games (DRM free!) and decide how you want the money divided between the developers, the EFF, and Child's Play.
http://www.humblebundle.com/
Elle at August 3, 2011 9:26 AM
Do we not waste enough money on federal outlays?
Why does the GOP want to spend even more money to monitor our every move on the Internet?
BTW, we conduct much of our lives online now.
In days of yore this would be like requiring the Post Office to make a copy of every letter you sent and received though the mail, and keep it on file for 12 months. Even in the worst of the Red Scare days, Tailgunner Joe and all, no one ever proposed that!
Yet the modern-day GOP wants to do that!
How about making copies of every magazine article you read and keeping that on file? This is what GOP leadership is proposing. A record of every book you bought? All credit card transactions.
I salute Alkon for bringing up this issue.
The modern GOP has become a confederacy of grifters, martinets, warmongers and catamites for plutocrats. Sad to see.
BOTU at August 3, 2011 10:13 AM
even better if you have the time, send them a letter... Letters count far more than emails.
SwissArmyD at August 3, 2011 10:29 AM
The modern GOP has become a confederacy of grifters, martinets, warmongers and catamites for plutocrats. Sad to see.
It's not just the GOP, Asswipe. So has the modern Democratic party, and they're WORSE by far than the GOP.
I already emailed all my reps regarding this issue. Next is the snail mail barrage, followed by phone calls to see if they got my damn letters. Bastards. I hate 'em all.
Flynne at August 3, 2011 10:34 AM
Here are the cosponsors of the bill. Get them OUT OF OFFICE!!!!!
Melody at August 3, 2011 10:57 AM
They are not protecting anyone with this bill. Just less and less privacy and freedom in our personal lives. To quote one of the best lines ever.."I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any longer!!!" None of the ones who keep voting this we will protect you if you let us watch you 24/7 crap will ever EVER get my vote. They should not get any true American's vote.
Melody at August 3, 2011 11:01 AM
Ops. sorry forgot the link.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR01981:@@@P
Melody at August 3, 2011 11:06 AM
Can you please stop using "vile" all the time? You're a better writer than that. It makes you look like a wanna be Ann Coulter, and you are so much smarter than her. SHE should want to be YOU.
NicoleK at August 3, 2011 2:41 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/08/03/vile.html#comment-2395495">comment from NicoleKRe: NicoleK on "vile" -- I think it crept into two posts today. Tuesday's my deadline day and I'm tired.
Sideline on Ann Coulter: When I was trying to persuade my publisher to do my book cover my way (which they ultimately did, but it was a struggle), I used Coulter's book cover in the black dress, stuck my head over hers, and stuck two tiny rude people in somebody else's hands I stuck over the photo, and emailed it to my editor.
Amy Alkon
at August 3, 2011 3:04 PM
Well, since my congressman is the infamous David Wu, I guess it won't go anywhere right now. What a bunch of garbage!
Chris G at August 3, 2011 3:14 PM
12 months?
My provider might be able to log the connections and times, but forget content. It's just too much.
Somebody hasn't noticed that DSL or cable delivers many MB/sec -- AND that "girl scout cookie recipe.jpg" doesn't have have anything to do with the fil contents.
And that's BEFORE encryption.
Radwaste at August 3, 2011 6:27 PM
I edited the test to add two paragraphs:
I...activity.
This ... shameful.
Further, I am in IT. The storage of this amount of data will require terabytes of more data space. The reconfiguration by the ISPs will also take a significant amount of time and effort. Who is paying the costs for this regulation. I am certain it is not the government. It will therefore fall to the ISP, who will have to pass the increase in costs to the consumer.
Another question is where does this cross with federal and state wiretapping laws? You are essentially insisting that the ISP tap all my transactions.
I ... rights.
You can paraphrase it -- but adding in the technological roadblocks might also help.
If I'm going to go surf child porn, or do any hacking/cracking that would get me in trouble, I'd be running through about two-three proxy servers, with one of them offshore.
What a bunch of F'ing idiots.
Jim P. at August 3, 2011 7:28 PM
I sent my email missive to my public serpent. These statists can suck my dick. Of course, they would want my dick to be whole grain and trans-fat free, first.
mpetrie98 at August 3, 2011 8:41 PM
Take a guess who isn't getting my vote:
While I know its a form letter -- he is advocating more intrusion into our lives. The easy reply to this is -- Go Fxxk Off! You aren't representing my views.
Jim P. at August 10, 2011 10:48 PM
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