NOTE: Downsize DC President Jim Babka guest-hosts a syndicated radio show tomorrow (Wednesday). Details in the P.S.
Quote of the Day: “To be governed is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so.” – Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
We have some good news to report…
The Senate had planned to pass a cybsersecurity bill this month.
Instead, they put it off until June at least. They can't agree on what should be in the bill.
YOU played a role in this. With your calls and letters, YOU protested privacy invasions and onerous regulations.
We must keep up the pressure.
That's why I wrote another letter to Congress using DownsizeDC.org's “Hands off the Internet” campaign. I encourage you to do the same.
You may borrow or copy from this…
The “cybersecurity” bills considered in Congress are intrusive and unnecessary.
* CISPA (HR 3523), which passed the House, isn't really about cybersecurity at all because it allows the feds to collect personal data to prosecute non-cybercrimes.
* The Lieberman-Collins bill (S 2105) imposes unnecessary standards and regulations on private firms that already have a self-interest in protecting themselves from cyber threats.I also oppose the SECURE IT Act (S 2151), which threatens my privacy and civil liberties. Among its many problems, SECURE IT…
* encourages private companies to monitor Internet usage, seeking ill-defined “cyber threat information,” even when this would violate their contracts with their customers.
* exempts private companies from current privacy and tort laws by allowing the sharing of my personal records with the Megastate.
* sets no standards to anonymize private information.
* facilitates the sharing of my personal information with the NSA and the military.And it does these things, even when the information gleaned has ZERO to do with cybersecurity.
Private companies would enjoy legal immunity even when they break their own contracts. Citizens will have no legal recourse if the government abuses its new powers under the bill.
Worst of all, SECURE IT also circumvents the Fourth Amendment. It gives the Federal Leviathan access to my personal information – data that would normally require a search warrant to obtain.
If “cybersecurity” was really a concern, Congress could have passed a narrowly-tailored law that allows information sharing to prevent cyber-attacks, yet also protects my privacy.
Congress has not done this. This has gone MUCH further. Is it an accident?
This makes me suspect that “cybersecurity,” like “terrorism,” is a scare word designed to frighten me into surrendering more privacy and liberty.
I do NOT consent. I insist that you REJECT ALL of these cybersecurity bills.
END LETTER
You can send your letter using DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System.
We encourage you to forward this message to like-minded friends.
James Wilson
Policy Research Director
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
P.S. Tomorrow (Wednesday), Downsize DC President, Jim Babka, guest-hosts Straight Talk w/Jerry Hughes on the Accent Radio Network.
His guest will be Dr. Mary Ruwart, a research scientist and author of “Healing Our World.” Dr. Ruwart also wrote “Short Answers to the Tough Questions,” based on her web column for the Advocates for Self-Government. She is currently Chairperson of the International Society for Individual Liberty.
You can listen live at 2:07 PM Eastern (1:07 PM Central, 12:07 PM Mountain, and 11:07 PM Pacific).
To hear the show on the web, or to find a local station, visit the network's website.
Affiliates can be found in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Oregon.
You can also listen on your phone! Toll free at 1-386-524-0333.