The US House of Representatives is currently scheduled to vote on the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) later this week. Now the Obama Administration is already warning that President Barack Obama could veto the bill if it is presented for his signature.
Talking Points Memo has posted up an email sent out today by the White House's Office of Management and Budget, saying that it "strongly opposes" CISPA in its current incarnation. The bill, also known as H.R. 3523, is supposed to fight cyber terrorism by allowing businesses to share any kind of cyber threat they may have heard about with other businesses as well as the US Government.
The key difference between CISPA and the defunct SOPA/PIPA bills is that CISPA has support from a number of tech companies, including Microsoft, Intel, Facebook and others. However, there's no such support from the Obama Administration. The email states:
H.R. 3523 fails to provide authorities to ensure that the Nation’s core critical infrastructure is protected while repealing important provisions of electronic surveillance law without instituting corresponding privacy, confidentiality, and civil liberties safeguards.
While the Obama Administration says it wants to work with the US Congress to help create legislation that would help the US fight cyber terrorism activities, it adds, " ... for the reasons stated herein, if H.R. 3523 were presented to the President, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill."
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