The Legislation That Could Kill Internet Privacy for Good

[The Straight Story]

Every right-thinking person abhors child pornography. To combat it, legislators have brought through committee a poorly conceived, over-broad Congressional bill, The Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011. It is arguably the biggest threat to civil liberties now under consideration in the United States. The potential victims: everyone who uses the Internet.

....

Tracking the private daily behavior of everyone in order to help catch a small number of child criminals is itself the noxious practice of police states. Said an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation: "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." Even more troubling is what the government would need to do in order to access this trove of private information: ask for it.

I kid you not -- that's it.

As written, The Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 doesn't require that someone be under investigation on child pornography charges in order for police to access their Internet history -- being suspected of any crime is enough. (It may even be made available in civil matters like divorce trials or child custody battles.) Nor do police need probable cause to search this information. As Rep. James Sensenbrenner says, (R-Wisc.) "It poses numerous risks that well outweigh any benefits, and I'm not convinced it will contribute in a significant way to protecting children."

Among those risks: blackmail.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/08/the-legislation-that-could-kill-internet-privacy-for-good/242853/

[steve2470]

1. more info on this horrendous bill:

When Sensensbrenner is against it, you KNOW it's bad.

H.R.1981
Latest Title: Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:h.r.01981:

Sponsor: Rep Smith, Lamar (introduced 5/25/2011)



COSPONSORS(25), ALPHABETICAL : (Sort: by date)

Rep Calvert, Ken - 7/15/2011
Rep Chabot, Steve - 7/11/2011
Rep Coble, Howard - 7/11/2011
Rep Critz, Mark S. - 7/11/2011
Rep Deutch, Theodore E. - 7/11/2011
Rep Emerson, Jo Ann - 7/12/2011
Rep Flores, Bill - 7/6/2011
Rep Forbes, J. Randy - 7/6/2011
Rep Franks, Trent - 7/11/2011
Rep Gallegly, Elton - 7/11/2011
Rep Gowdy, Trey - 7/11/2011
Rep Griffin, Tim - 7/29/2011
Rep Jackson Lee, Sheila - 7/19/2011
Rep LaTourette, Steven C. - 7/12/2011
Rep Lummis, Cynthia M. - 7/12/2011
Rep Lungren, Daniel E. - 7/11/2011
Rep Marino, Tom - 7/12/2011
Rep Pierluisi, Pedro R. - 7/25/2011
Rep Quigley, Mike - 7/12/2011
Rep Ruppersberger, C. A. Dutch - 6/15/2011
Rep Schiff, Adam B. - 7/15/2011
Rep Shuler, Heath - 7/11/2011
Rep Stark, Fortney Pete - 7/25/2011
Rep Upton, Fred - 7/12/2011
Rep Wasserman Schultz, Debbie - 5/25/2011

[fredamae]

2. Small Gov't VS. Nanny State Big Gov't Ideology?

How much freedom do we continue to give up when there is most likely a better solution to the problem.

[saras]

8. The truth is there isn't enough of a problem to justify ANY technical solution

It's incredibly rare, the practitioners get arrested regularly because there are already so many anti-privacy laws that even when they try to work in secret, with private internet sites and everything encrypted, they get caught anyways.

They need to show that there's a problem not already addressed by law before proposing a new one. And they haven't, of course, because child porn is only an excuse.

It makes me wonder, though... you can buy a toy stripper pole for your pre-teen kid. It's tacky but legal. But can you buy a toy stripper pole for your neighbor's kid?

[madfloridian]

3. Note that the DNC chair is one of the co-sponsors.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. Not 'just' a co-sponsor - she was an originator, along with the

sponsor. She signed on before ANY other co-sponsor, on the same day Lamar Smith introduced it. All the other 'co-sponsors' didn't sign on for another 6 weeks.

She's as responsible for this fascist POS as Smith is.

[Ship of Fools]

5. WOW. Got me on that one! WTF, Debbie?

[QC]

6. Is there any doubt that Obama will trip over himself in his rush to sign this?

[Modern_Matthew]

7. I hope hacker groups around the world unleash Armageddon if this even comes up for a floor vote. nt