The passing of CISPA will result in a dark implication; George Orwell’s dystopian reality “1984” is much closer to reality than fiction.
Written for, Me on Aug 30, 2012.
America’s paranoid feelings related to the prevention of terrorism have already led to a comprehensive surveillance of the internet, mail and telecommunications. From the tracking of what books you check out to data mining, bills such as the Patriot Act imply—big brother is watching.
But the Patriot Act is not alone, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) is now another tool for the all seeing eye viewing the American public. The bill was just passed by House of Representatives but has yet to beat the Senate or see Obama’s approval. The passing of CISPA will invoke dark implication; George Orwell’s dystopian reality “1984” is much closer to reality than fiction.
In Orwell’s book, government tracks every part of your life, including your emotions and thoughts.
“It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away,” on page 55 of “1984”.
Although CSIAP is not a fully functional telescreen—a tool used to monitor civilians emotions and thoughts—the bill will defiantly take a step in “Orwellian” direction. It opens the door to a dangerous hall where, the “encouragement” of sharing—Google Documents, instant messaging records and emails—could be later interrupted as, “The Federal Governments and corporations have the right to monitor and act upon, all information stored online.”
“So if they (corporations) see the slightest bit that they think is odd in your email, they can hand it over to the government. And if the government says it has something to do with national security – it is very easy to say that, whether it’s true or not – then the government can study it for any purpose,” Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, said in an RT interview.
The bill reads, information which “degrades or disrupts” government and corporate entities, can be searched, seized, and shared within the “cybersecurity” community. The bills voluntarily statues do not justify America’s loosing their online privacy for “national security.”
President Obama has threatened to veto CISPA if passed by the Senate, but these views do not reflect his pervious decisions such as his renewal of the Patriot Act, which I believe are counterintuitive to civil rights.
ACLU legislative counsel Michelle Richardson stated, “CISPA goes too far for little reason. Cybersecurity does not have to mean (the) abdication of Americans’ online privacy. As we’ve seen repeatedly, once the government gets expansive national security authorities, there’s no going back.”
If the bill is passed by the Senate and The President does not veto it, CISPA will destroy any impression of previously conjured ideas of online confidentiality. It will give the government—including the military—and private companies, comprehensive tools to spy on innocent Americans. We say the terrorist didn’t win, but it sure does seem like their actions are bringing us closer to “1984” and not a prosperous future.
-Thanks again for reading, Bryce Dunham-Zemberi
