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!
Comments
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.
Posted by: 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.
Posted by: 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.
Posted by: 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.
Posted by: 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.
Posted by: 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.
Posted by: 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.
Posted by: Flynne at August 3, 2011 10:34 AM
Here are the cosponsors of the bill. Get them OUT OF OFFICE!!!!!
Posted by: 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.
Posted by: Melody at August 3, 2011 11:01 AM
Ops. sorry forgot the link.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR01981:@@@P
Posted by: 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.
Posted by: NicoleK at August 3, 2011 2:41 PM
Re: 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.
Posted by: 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!
Posted by: 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.
Posted by: 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.
Posted by: 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.
Posted by: mpetrie98 at August 3, 2011 8:41 PM
Take a guess who isn't getting my vote:
Dear Mr. xxxxxxxxxx:
Thank you for getting in touch with my office about H.R.1981, the Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act.
I have passed your concerns along to the legislative assistant in my office who monitors communications and Internet issues.
In the past, I have worked hard to crack down on child pornography. Nothing is more tragic than the victimization of a child, and society has a solemn responsibility to protect our children from harm.
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, H.R. 4472, was passed in the House and the Senate and signed into law on July 27, 2006. H.R. 4472 included "Masha's Law," which increases the penalties and fines for downloading child pornography. I will most certainly work hard to fund the initiatives passed in this legislation.
The Senate has also passed the Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online (SAFE) Act. This bill modernizes and expands the reporting requirements relating to child pornography and expands cooperation in combating child pornography. This legislation was signed into law as part of the Combating Child Exploitation Act on October 13, 2008. The Combating Child Exploitation Act also establishes a Special Counsel for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction within the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. The legislation improves the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, increases resources for regional computer forensic labs, and makes other improvements to increase the ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute predators.
Should H.R.1981 or any other legislation dealing with child pornography be considered in the 112th Congress, I will keep your views in mind. Thank you again for getting in touch with me.
Sincerely,
Sherrod Brown
United States Senator
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.
Posted by: Jim P. at August 10, 2011 10:48 PM
