CISPA, the sweeping cyber-surveillance bill that is gallumphing through Congress despite its constitutional deficiencies, has hit a snag. The Office of Management and Budget has recommended that Obama veto the bill, should it reach his desk. The bill's up for a vote on Friday. Here's Cyrus Farivar, writing about it on Ars Technica:
"Legislation should address core critical infrastructure vulnerabilities without sacrificing the fundamental values of privacy and civil liberties for our citizens, especially at a time our Nation is facing challenges to our economic well-being and national security," the e-mail states. "The Administration looks forward to continuing to engage with the Congress in a bipartisan, bicameral fashion to enact cybersecurity legislation to address these critical issues. However, for the reasons stated herein, if H.R. 3523 were presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill."
The eight-paragraph message articulates various reasons why the OMB opposes the bill, including that the bill "significantly departs from longstanding efforts to treat the Internet and cyberspace as civilian spheres" and that it "also lacks sufficient limitations on the sharing of personally identifiable information between private entities and does not contain adequate oversight or accountability measures necessary to ensure that the data is used only for appropriate purposes."
CISPA veto recommended by White House, bill's authors defend it
