Texas Rep. Lamar Smith resents the idea of internet freedom – at least that’s the impression he excels at leaving.
Just weeks after the whole SOPA/PIPA crisis, we have another attempt of internet censorship from the same man who initially introduced SOPA into the House of Representatives. It's not surprising to see such an adamant politician revive another one of his forgotten nightmares of a bill so soon. As a representative who receives loads of financial support from the TV, movie and music industry, Smith views average internet users as misguided copyright delinquents undeserving of their First Amendment rights.
The man behind SOPA and its highly unethical drive, Smith’s desires to regulate internet traffic didn’t start with the infamous “Internet Blacklist Bill.” Smith's first controversial bill was a piece of legislation known as the “Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011.” Dubbed the “Internet Snooping Bill” by internet users, this previous law of Smith’s – and once again a current focus after SOPA’s defeat – aims to retain valuable consumer information. Phone numbers, home addresses and even credit card information could be stored over a period of 18 months, all in the name of “protecting children.”
Let’s start with an obvious hole in this bill. According to techdirt.com, H.R. 1981 will actually exempt WiFi providers, and only target major providers housing individual customers. One would think that open WiFi networks would be an excellent outlet for anonymously transferring files, so why leave them out? All this would do is – whether or not they were on these WiFi networks to begin with – provide an affirmed safe haven for pornographers who want a way to not get caught. Meanwhile, presumably innocent consumers have personal data sent from their ISP to Uncle Sam.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like supporters of this bill will settle for anything less. Reports from CNET in July indicated that an amendment to only include IP addresses (and not the vital information we’re all so picky about) was rejected, with seven votes to approve and 16 to keep the bill where it’s at in the land of intrusive garbage. In other words, it looks like freedom lovers are in for a vigorous battle in the name of free speech – again.
As usual (It’s like this happens every week now), an online organization known as Demand Progress is asking citizens to speak up for their rights and contact their local Congress representatives regarding H.R. 1981. On the organization’s official website, an excerpt reads “The American Civil Liberties Union, the American Library Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Demand Progress, and 25 other civil liberties and privacy groups have expressed our opposition to this legislation. Will you join us, by emailing your lawmakers today?”
Like other past causes (including SOPA), a form to automatically e-mail congress was posted on the same page. Demand Progress also promoted a post on Reddit this week, in order to spread awareness on the topic (and get more internet users fumed by just hearing “Lamar Smith” and “regulate internet” for the umpteenth time this season).
If Smith continues with his "anti-freedom on the internet" agenda, there’s a good chance he’ll be voted out of Washington sooner or later. Fool us once, shame on you – fool us twice, we reevaluate your qualifications to serve as one of our representatives.
At a Glance...
H.R. 1981
May 25, 2011
Full bill title: "Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011"
Introduced by: Lamar Smith (R, Texas - http://lamarsmith.house.gov/)
Broad implications: retention of data (phone number, home address, credit cards) for 18 months.
Bill text: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-1981
For additional involvement, contact Demand Progress.
No comments:
Post a Comment