SOPA and PIPA to Give Government Broad Power over Internet

Congress is considering passing broad laws that will allow for much greater government control over content on the Internet. The potentials for government abuse and censorship are staggering.

Find out more about SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) at www.google.com/landing/takeaction.

Internet Tracking Bill Passes House Judiciary Committee

The members of Congress are currently working on a law that will significantly reduce the privacy of average innocent Americans. Sponsored by Lamar Smith of Texas, H.R.1981 passed the House Judiciary Committee on July 29, 2011 with supporting votes from the following Representatives.

Rep Adams, Sandy [FL-24] - Republican
Rep Berman, Howard [CA-28] - Democrat
Rep Chabot, Steve [OH-1] - Republican
Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6] - Republican
Rep Forbes, J. Randy [VA-4] - Republican
Rep Franks, Trent [AZ-2] - Republican
Rep Gallegly, Elton [CA-24] - Republican
Rep Goodlatte, Bob [VA-6] - Republican
Rep Gowdy, Trey [SC-4] - Republican
Rep Griffin, Tim [AK-2] - Republican
Rep King, Steve [IA-5] - Republican
Rep Lungren, Daniel E. [CA-3] - Republican
Rep Marino, Tom [PA-10] - Republican
Rep Ross, Dennis [FL-12] - Republican
Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21] - Republican


This bill, mostly supported by Republicans, has a very deceptive name. It has been called the Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011, but the law will do little to stop child pornographers. What the law actually does is cast a broad net of data retention for every American who uses the Internet. This law will require all internet service providers in the United States to keep extensive records on the online activity of their subscribers. Some of the information to be tracked is customers' names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and temporarily-assigned IP addresses.

If you use the Internet, regardless of whether your actions are legal or not, detailed records of who you are and what you do online will be stored for at least one year. These records may be used by law enforcement to investigate virtually any sort of crime. Do not be surprised if the reach of the law expands even further into civil uses in the future.

Here is a list of the sponsor and co-sponsors of H.R.1981

Sponsor
Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21]

Co-Sponsors
Rep Calvert, Ken [CA-44]
Rep Chabot, Steve [OH-1]
Rep Coble, Howard [NC-6]
Rep Critz, Mark S. [PA-12]
Rep Deutch, Theodore E. [FL-19]
Rep Emerson, Jo Ann [MO-8]
Rep Flores, Bill [TX-17]
Rep Forbes, J. Randy [VA-4]
Rep Franks, Trent [AZ-2]
Rep Gallegly, Elton [CA-24]
Rep Gowdy, Trey [SC-4]
Rep Jackson Lee, Sheila [TX-18]
Rep LaTourette, Steven C. [OH-14]
Rep Lummis, Cynthia M. [WY]
Rep Lungren, Daniel E. [CA-3]
Rep Marino, Tom [PA-10]
Rep Pierluisi, Pedro R. [PR]
Rep Quigley, Mike [IL-5]
Rep Ruppersberger, C. A. Dutch [MD-2]
Rep Schiff, Adam B. [CA-29]
Rep Shuler, Heath [NC-11]
Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [CA-13]
Rep Upton, Fred [MI-6]
Rep Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [FL-20]

The National Sheriffs' Association Wants Internet Data Retention Rules

The National Sheriffs' Association wants more control over Internet service providers by requiring ISPs keep records of Internet usage for a minimum of eighteen months. This is all being done under the guise of fighting child pornography, but it could affect anyone who uses the Internet.  This further invasion of privacy, which is to be imposed on private companies and presumably at their own expense, is going to make it much easier for all sorts of government agencies to spy on you. 

Hey, here's an idea.  If child pornography is such a big problem, maybe we should stop constantly letting the sex offenders out of prison.  If we keep more perverts in jail and away from kids and computers, maybe a lot the child pornography problems will go away.

Click below to read Declan McCullagh's full article on CNET News.
"Police: Internet Providers Must Keep User Logs"

Obama Wants Internet ID for Americans

Obama is planning to give the U.S. Commerce Department authority over a system to establish unique Internet identities for people. The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace is a plan to create a system that will allow participants to establish who they are online through the use of some sort of identification feature. There are many systems that would allow for this identification, such as digital passcode generators, hardware keys, biometric scanners, RFID cards, voice recognition, etc.

The Obama administration is selling this as something that is voluntary and will be driven by the private sector, but the potential for future abuses must be recognized. Certainly, it would be convenient to have a single and secure Internet ID that you could use to access all of your various Internet-based accounts, but this could make you extremely vulnerable to having your entire online life hijacked in one single move.

People are probably not going to feel terribly threatened by this Internet ID program at first. We are going to be told it is for our protection, and it is completely voluntary, but that is not the way things are going to work out in reality.

If this Internet ID program takes hold, here is what is could happen step-by-step.

1) The Internet ID will be introduced. Banks will offer it to clients. People will use it and enjoy the convenience and feeling of security.

2) After a while, some banks will require users to have an Internet ID in order to access their accounts online.

3) Internet IDs will be required by all major banks for online access.

4) Mortgage companies and credit card companies will require customers to use the Internet ID system online.

5) Credit card companies will require the Internet ID be used for online purchases.

6) After several years, Internet IDs will be commonplace. Internet users may even be required to have Internet IDs to use free resources such as Web-based email accounts, social networking sites, blogging sites, etc.

Eventually, what will happen is that many Americans will have all or most of their online lives under one single Internet ID, effectively placing people's online lives under one universal account. It will be very convenient for people. People will just be able to log onto their computers and do everything without the need to worry about passwords and screen names.

Not only will this be convenient for legitimate users, it also going to be very convenient for identity thieves. We are always told systems are hack-proof, but we often find out later some hacker beat the security. Nothing is hack-proof. Right now, it is really a headache if an identity thief steals your credit card number or manages to hack your email account. Now, imagine if a hacker got hold of your Internet ID and was suddenly able to access every single one of your online accounts. Imagine if a thief had access to your bank accounts, credit cards, mortgage, driver license, cell phone, email accounts, Facebook account, Amazon account, and everything else you have. Your online life would suddenly be in the hands of someone else, and you would have very few resources available to you to correct the problem. In cyberspace, you would virtually cease to be your virtual self.

Here is an even scarier thought. Imagine if the you had your entire online life under a single Internet ID, and you had some dispute with the government. What if your tax return got lost in the mail? Imagine how easy it would be for the IRS to get hold of your Internet ID information and freeze all of your accounts until the matter was resolved. What if the Department of Homeland Security mistakenly identified you as a security threat and just decided to shut off your access to all of your online accounts during an investigation?

The potentials for abuse are tremendous. If you use the Internet ID system, know that you will be placing all of your virtual eggs in one basket. If a thief or the government decides to come along and take your basket, where is that going to leave you?