CISA

15 News Stories from 2015 You Should Have Heard About But Probably Didn’t

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cencored-news

– 15 News Stories from 2015 You Should Have Heard About But Probably Didn’t:

In 2015, the iron fist of power clamped down on humanity, from warfare to terrorism (I repeat myself) to surveillance, police brutality, and corporate hegemony. The environment was repeatedly decimated, the health of citizens was constantly put at risk, and the justice system and media alike were perverted to serve the interests of the powers that be.

However, while 2015 was discouraging for more reasons than most of us can count, many of the year’s most underreported stories evidence not only a widespread pattern that explicitly reveals the nature of power, but pushback from human beings worldwide on a path toward a better world.

 1. CISA Pushed Through the Senate, Effectively Clamping Down on Internet Freedom: For years, Congress has attempted to legalize corporate and state control of the internet. In 2011, they attempted to pass PIPA and SOPA, companion bills slammed by internet and tech companies and ultimately defeated after overwhelming public outcry. Then they passed  CISPA — which the president threatened to veto, having caught wind of the public’s opposition to heavy regulation of the internet (earlier this year, Obama reversed his position). However, corporate interests, like Hollywood’s studio monopoly, kept lawmakers’ tenacity afloat.

Read more15 News Stories from 2015 You Should Have Heard About But Probably Didn’t

CISA: ‘Just Another Example Of Corruption’

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Related info:

–CISA Is Now The Law: How Congress Quietly Passed The Second Patriot Act

– CISA: “Just Another Example Of Corruption”:

Last week, Congress passed CISA by hiding it in the middle of a sure-to-pass spending bill, and Obama signed it into law … even though the Department of Homeland Security had previously said that the bill will HURT national security and destroy privacy (numerous experts agreed).

And – just like with previous spying laws – the government has a secret interpretation of CISA which will make it even worse.

So why was the bill passed?

Read moreCISA: ‘Just Another Example Of Corruption’

CISA Is Now The Law: How Congress Quietly Passed The Second Patriot Act

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obama-big-brother

– CISA Is Now The Law: How Congress Quietly Passed The Second Patriot Act:

Update: CISA is now the law: OBAMA SIGNS SPENDING, TAX BILL THAT REPEALS OIL EXPORT BAN

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Back in 2014, civil liberties and privacy advocates were up in arms when the government tried to quietly push through the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, or CISA, a law which would allow federal agencies – including the NSA – to share cybersecurity, and really any information with private corporations “notwithstanding any other provision of law.” The most vocal complaint involved CISA’s information-sharing channel, which was ostensibly created for responding quickly to hacks and breaches, and which provided a loophole in privacy laws that enabled intelligence and law enforcement surveillance without a warrant.

Ironically, in its earlier version, CISA had drawn the opposition of tech firms including Apple, Twitter, Reddit, as well as the Business Software Alliance, the Computer and Communications Industry Association and many others including countless politicians and, most amusingly, the White House itself.

Read moreCISA Is Now The Law: How Congress Quietly Passed The Second Patriot Act

CISA Surveillance Bill Will “Transform Websites into Government Spies”

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Protest_against_internet

– CISA Surveillance Bill Will “Transform Websites into Government Spies”:

The controversial Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) may be added as a provision in the looming government budget bill.

(TRUTHINMEDIA) The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) was officially approved by the Senate back in October. Since that time, the bill has languished in committee as lawmakers sought to align the Senate bill with the versions passed by the House of Representatives in April.

CISA is designed to allow private companies to easily share threat intelligence with government agencies. Sharing of intelligence is supposed to be voluntary. Critics of the bill say the provisions will only increase the indiscriminate monitoring of legal activity by giving companies immunity from lawsuits for sharing information with the government.

Read moreCISA Surveillance Bill Will “Transform Websites into Government Spies”

Paul Ryan is Aggressively Lobbying to Pass “Frankenstein” CISA Spy Bill Through Congress

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Paul-Ryan

– Paul Ryan is Aggressively Lobbying to Pass “Frankenstein” CISA Spy Bill Through Congress:

So who could possibly be worse than John Boehner? Paul Ryan, of course, which is precisely why he was chosen to lead the RINOs in the stinking cesspool known as the U.S. House of Representatives.

So what is Paul Ryan up to now? Well, he’s trying as hard as possible to pass a grotesque spy bill known as CISA, which stands for the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. Congress has been relentlessly trying to pass similar legislation for years, under constantly changing names.

Now here’s the latest attempt,  with Paul Ryan leading the charge. The Guardian reports:

US librarians have joined with a host of civil liberties groups to condemn a cybersecurity bill now passing through Congress they claim will be both “unhelpful” and “dangerous to Americans’ civil liberties”.

Read morePaul Ryan is Aggressively Lobbying to Pass “Frankenstein” CISA Spy Bill Through Congress

Facebook Caught Secretly Lobbying for Privacy Destroying “Cyber Security” Bill

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Facebook

– Facebook Caught Secretly Lobbying for Privacy Destroying “Cyber Security” Bill:

There’s a privacy destroying bill moving through Congress called the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, or CISA, and it’s imperative that the American public stop it in its tracks. Here are a few bullet points on the bill from Fight for the Future:

  • All privacy policies effectively null and void. Companies can share any private user data with the government, without a warrant, as long as the government says it is being used for a “cybersecurity” purpose.
  • In exchange, companies are given blanket immunity from civil and criminal laws, like fraud, money laundering, or illegal wiretapping (if a violation was committed or exposed in the process of sharing data).
  • Data is shared with a wide array of government agencies, from the FBI and NSA, to the IRS and local law enforcement. Many of these agencies have been breached within the last year and have outdated security systems, opening up the doors to even more cyber attacks.
  • Companies that play along can get otherwise classified intelligence data from the government, including private information about their competitors.

While the Constitution protects Americans from the federal government, private companies don’t care about your 4th Amendment rights, particularly if you waive them in a “terms of service” agreement. CISA would essentially allow the U.S. government to violate the U.S. Constitution by coercing companies to provide them with data on American citizens it would not otherwise be allowed to collect on its own.

Naturally, Washington D.C. is salivating over the prospect of such a bill. As the Hill notes:

Read moreFacebook Caught Secretly Lobbying for Privacy Destroying “Cyber Security” Bill

Meet CISA – Dianne Feinstein’s Latest Attack On Privacy, Civil Liberties And The Internet

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Dianne-FeinsteinOrganized crime

– Meet CISA – Dianne Feinstein’s Latest Attack on Privacy, Civil Liberties and the Internet (Liberty, Blitzkrieg, July 15, 2014):

There’s not much good you can count on Congress to accomplish, but when it comes to introducing and passing oligarch protecting, civil liberties destroying legislation, our “representatives” are absolutely relentless in their determination. Unsurprisingly, the only “distinctly native American criminal class,” as Mark Twain described Congress, is at it again when it comes to institutionalizing spying and attempting a legal run around the Bill of Rights.

One thing that has become crystal clear since the Edward Snowden revelations, is that much of Congress has no problem at all with unconstitutional spying. Rather, they are primarily upset it was exposed and are dead set on making sure no other whistleblower can ever do the same. Enter CISA, or The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act.

I’ve spent much of today reading about the bill, and have compiled what I think are the most astute observations. First, from the ACLU:

Read moreMeet CISA – Dianne Feinstein’s Latest Attack On Privacy, Civil Liberties And The Internet

Senate Committee Passes CISA Cybersecurity Bill That Could Broaden NSA Powers

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Dianne-Feinstein
Not wrong, just evil.

– Senate committee passes CISA cybersecurity bill that could broaden NSA powers (RT, July 8, 2014):

New cybersecurity legislation cleared the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday during a closed session. Critics fear it may broaden the NSA’s already formidable access to Americans’ data.

Written by Senate Intelligence Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), CISA – or Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act – is widely seen as a redux of last year’s CISPA bill, which was widely protested by online privacy watchdogs and ultimately defeated in Congress.

Read moreSenate Committee Passes CISA Cybersecurity Bill That Could Broaden NSA Powers