CISPA: Congress Takes Another Run at the Internet

Once upon a time there was a bill called SOPA.  Some evil trolls who worked and conducted meetings in a big domed building in Washington DC tried to make a wicked law to allow them to close people's internet-based businesses and websites whenever they wanted, for the silliest of reasons, much to the delight of the head ogre who lived in a big White House. The people of the land all stood up angrily and complained to fight against the law, and through their efforts, defeated the trolls and the head ogre.  The laws of the internet remained fair, the trolls were duly chastened, the ogre pretended benevolence and the people lived happily ever after, internet freedoms intact.....

Well.....until the dragon CISPA reared it's ugly head. 

As we predicted here, the government has been busily creating a law to "protect" us from cyber-attacks like the one recently threatened by Anonymous.

The stated purpose of CISPA is "To provide for the sharing of certain cyber threat intelligence and cyber threat information between the intelligence community and cybersecurity entities, and for other purposes."

(Personally, my favorite line in that statement is "and for other purposes." It sets the ambiguous tone for the rest of the bill.)

The outrages that are blatantly laid out in CISPA (The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) are bad enough, but the vagueness of the language takes the intrusion to a level previously unheard of in a country born of the blood of Patriots and allegedly protected by the Constitution.

CISPA allows "cyber entities"  (internet service providers, social networks and cell phone companies, to name a few examples) to circumvent internet privacy laws.  In an interview with Russia Today, Kendall Burman of the Center for Democracy and Technology stated that, "the bill, as written, allows the US government to involve itself into any online correspondence... if it believes there is reason to suspect cyber crime.

As with other authoritarian attempts at censorship that have come through Congress in recent times, of course, the wording within the CISPA allows for the government to interpret the law in such a number of degrees that any online communication or interaction could be suspect and thus unknowingly monitored."


The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy group, states, "It effectively creates a ‘cybersecurity'’ exemption to all existing laws...There are almost no restrictions on what can be collected and how it can be used, provided a company can claim it was motivated by ‘cybersecurity purposes."

In the spirit of making things clear, the bill contains several definitions that only add to the general air of vagueness.

CYBER THREAT INTELLIGENCE ~ "information pertaining to protecting a system or network from—(A) efforts to degrade, disrupt, or destroy such system or network; or (B) theft or misappropriation of private or government information, intellectual property, or personally identifiable information."

SELF-PROTECTED ENTITY ~ "an entity, other than an individual, that provides goods or services for cyber security purposes to itself."

PROTECTED ENTITY ~ "‘protected entity’ means an entity, other than an individual, that contracts with a cybersecurity provider for goods or services to be used for cybersecurity purposes."

"Cybersecurity" is not defined in the document.

So it's clear, CISPA will allow for the surveillance and interception of your personal correspondence by the government, email providers, cell phone providers, internet service providers and social networks, to name just a few of the allowable snoopers.

Despite the fact that the bill specifically states that entities cannot use the powers granted "to gain an unfair competitive advantage" one must wonder how a profit can be made via CISPA, especially after the corporate outcry against SOPA, which would have greatly restricted the activities of computer and communications companies.  Companies like Facebook, AT&T and Verizon have jumped on the CISPA bandwagon with both feet.

In a letter to Congress, Facebook VP Joel Kaplan wrote, "Your thoughtful bipartisan approach will enhance the ability of companies like Facebook to address cyberthreats.....Your legislation removes burdensome rules that can currently inhibit protection of the cyber-ecosystem."

Fred Humphries, a Microsoft VP commended Congress in a statement.  "The legislation would seek to eliminate barriers and disincentives that currently prevent effective information-sharing to guard against cyber-attacks."

The United States Chamber of Commerce VP Bruce Josten stated the group's support of CISPA as "an important step in assisting the nation’s public and private sectors to prevent, deter, and mitigate the array of cyber threats from illicit actors without imposing burdensome regulations on industry."

The following companies have all written letters of support for CISPA (you can read the letters by clicking on the name of each company).

AT&T
Boeing
BSA
Business Roundtable
CSC
COMPTEL
CTIA - The Wireless Association
Cyber, Space & Intelligence Association
Edison Electric
EMC
Exelon
Facebook
The Financial Services Roundtable
IBM
Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance
Information Technology Industry Council
Intel
Internet Security Alliance
Lockheed Martin
Microsoft
National Cable & Telecommunications Association
NDIA
Oracle
Symantec
TechAmerica
US Chamber of Commerce
US Telecom - The Broadband Association
Verizon

 

We managed to keep SOPA off the desk of Barack Obama (who we can reliably predict will sign CISPA into law with the glee of a tyrannical zealot.)  Let's keep the momentum going by stepping up to the plate as activists again.

You can find email and mailing addresses for the companies above on their letterhead when you read their glowing commendations for CISPA.  Write to them and let them know that your dollars will not be spent with them, either now or in the future, unless they publicly withdraw their support for this bill.

You can find the email addresses of your members of Congress HERE. 

Sources:

Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011

US House of Representatives Information on CISPA

New CISPA Cybersecurity Bill Will Censor the Web

I Spy With My Federal Eye....

We're in the middle of a giant spy game.  If you frequent patriot websites and alternative news sites, you are definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, being tracked.  You are "on the list".

This week, James Wesley Rawles, the "father of the Survivalist movement", released the following statement on his website.

"It has come to my attention that from August of 2011 to November of 2011, the FBI secretly redirected the web traffic of more than 10% of SurvivalBlog’s US visitors through CJIS, their sprawling data center situated on 900 acres, 10 miles from Clarksburg, West Virginia. There, the Feebees surreptitiously collected the IP addresses of my site visitors. In all, 4,906 of 35,494 selected connections ended up going to or through the FBI servers....Furthermore, we discovered that the FBI attached a long-lived cookiethat allowed them to track the sites that readers subsequently visited. I suspect that the FBI has done the same to hundreds of other web sites."

~ James Wesley Rawles, SurvivalBlog

Alternative news sites are all carrying the story, and some preppers and patriots are diving for cover, vowing not to visit these sites again. The disconcerting fact is that  the internet has been used as a tool by the nominal government to follow us, to identify us, and to catalogue us according to what type of threat we offer.

Did you ever stop to think, that is the ONLY reason we still have an accessible internet?

If the Gestapo DHS was not able to use the internet against us, you can bet that it would be locked down.  Already, sites disseminating the truth against these agencies are having myriad Denial of Service attacks.  Search engines have completely changed their parameters, causing government propaganda to show up on the first three pages of any search.  Sites that spread the word, like Infowars, have been "de-listed" from Google, meaning they only show up if you type in the word "Infowars" with any search that you do.

Consider the fact that the "Arab Spring" revolution last year was coordinated almost solely through social media:  Facebook, Twitter, blogs and web forums.  If we know this, you can bet that so do the alphabet soup agencies.  When revolution begins to be coordinated in America, our ability to communicate over the internet will cease.

When the time comes that the DHS Thought Police feel that they have accumulated enough information about us, the 'net will be locked down.  When Revolution occurs, the 'net will be locked down.  The internet is our Paul Revere - our early warning system and the fastest way to spread the word of threats.  As certain sites become more and more proactive, those sites will be shut down.

We only have the internet as long as the Gestapo DHS feels that it is more useful to them than it is to us.

Personally, I intend to use the internet to give the government spies the finger. 

• I will do everything I can to thwart their efforts to track me, including changing operating systems and installing bigger and better firewalls.
• I will continue writing to do my part to spread the word about the takeover from within of the United States government.
• I will continue to visit the alternative news sites on a daily basis to show them my support.
• I will not curtail my activities on the internet one bit. 
• I will continue to dissent and to encourage others to do so.

Go ahead: follow me around the web.  If there's a list (and we all know there is) then I'm already on it.  Changing my habits now will do nothing to remove me from this list.

So, to all you dissident rebel Patriots, use the internet now to gather all of the information that you can.  Make connections with other like-minded folks.  Organize, spread the word and resist, while always keeping in mind that both sides can play at the "dis-information" game.  When the threat of an internet-based Patriot movement outweighs the allure of being able to spy on us, the internet will be no more until we can take it back.

To quote a very wise man on a web forum:   "What we need to do is just make sure they get the proper message: There are TENS OF MILLIONS of us, we are armed, and we are PISSED!"

Freedom should not be a radical concept in America.  Fighting for freedom should not be considered a treasonous act.  Voicing opinions of dissent should be welcomed in a country founded on liberty and free speech. The true revolution begins in your own mind.

The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations ... This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution.

John Adams, Feb. 13, 1818

Thank you to Okie for the quote of the day!

Protect Your PC on March 8th

The countdown is on for the FBI's "planned interruption" of the internet on March 8th.

The European Union Times  reports concerns by the Kremlin that this is a move by the United States government to further crack down on "dissidents".  Russian computer security experts claim to have provided the FBI with a simple fix to disable the DNSchanger Trojan without interrupting internet service, but say that the repair was rejected as the FBI proceeds with plans to make the internet go dark.

So....

On March 8th, the FBI and friends are going to be effectively going in to your computer to allegedly seek out and destroy this virus. 

If the virus is affecting your computer you will no longer be able to access the internet with that machine, lest your personal computer become the typhoid Mary of the internet.

This brings many questions to my admittedly less-than-technical mind.

Could this be a big coverup for a warrantless peek inside the computers of America?
Could this be a way to install government spyware via their own trojan - into our computers?
Could the internet going dark be a giant "reboot" to activate whatever was installed in our computers?
Could this be a way to diffuse information during a false flag event planned by our own government?
Could this be a way to limit communication as patriots are rounded up under the NDAA?

There are a few ways we can try to protect ourselves from these potential attacks on our privacy and communications.

1.)  BACK UP all of your information.  Back up your systems, print hard copies and save your files to disc or USB drive.  This will save your work and information in the event of a crash or a system wipe from outside sources.

2.)  Not only is the internet a way out - it's a way in.  Consider shutting down your home internet connection for a couple of days to protect your system during this sweep.  Turn off and unplug all devices.  Disconnect your router and/or modem.

3.)  Educate yourself on the potential of Trojan Horse Warrants and government-sanctioned cyber-snooping.

4.)  Change your settings to disable some or all cookies, which are tracking devices that websites install on your computer for "marketing" purposes.  Note that some functions of your computer will become inoperable without cookies.  Certain pages require the use of cookies to operate correctly.

5.)  Clean up your computer.  Run a defrag, clear your caches and histories, delete any temporary files and empty your recycle bins.

6.)  Install firewalls and antivirus software.  There are many of these on the market, and some are free downloads.  Find a trusted brand and install it on your computer immediately.  Turn the protection all the way up to the highest settings.  These programs will help keep out "intruders" whether they are government cyberthugs or general malicious hackers.

7.) Always log out of anything that requires registration.  Being logged in to your email, Facebook or Google accounts open a doorway.  Anything that you do on your computer can be tracked when you are logged in to any program or website that deposits a cookie.  It's the equivalent of going to the bathroom with the door open.

March 8th could be the end of the internet as we know it today or just a temporary lull in service.  Either way, using this as impetus to protect your system is a good idea.  The intrusions will continue to be more bold as time goes on and more people wake up to the threats of the current regime. 

If Virtue & Knowledge are diffused among the People, they will never be enslav'd. This will be their great Security.

~ Samuel Adams, 1779

Learn.

Teach.

Resist.



Today Is the Last Day to Clean Up Your Computer History

As of tomorrow, March 1, 2012, the internet really is forever.

Tomorrow Google's new misnamed "privacy policy" goes into effect.  Google euphemistically calls this "treating you as one user".  Anything you view on Youtube, mail via Gmail or search on Google's search engine will be compiled to make a profile of you.

This change will be retroactive, meaning anything you've already viewed or searched will be included in this compilation of personal data.

It's a good idea to clean up your history today. Otherwise it will live on infinitely in Google's files.

First, clear your Google search history using these easy STEPS to erase your searches.  Even if you've cleared the cache in your computer, Google still has this data until you erase it.

Next, clear you Youtube viewing history.  This article will show you how.

Then look ahead to the new changes on Facebook.  You have until March 30 to remove anything that you do not want to become a permanent part of Facebook.  That is the day that FB's new "Timeline" becomes mandatory.

Any apps you have enabled will become permanent, showing up to display your "stripper name" or "which Twilight character are you?" at any given time.

Any angry or intoxicated post you may have made since you joined Facebook during your misspent youth becomes fair game and may appear at random on your personal page. 

Any photos that you have been tagged in may pop up to prompt a little trip down memory lane.  An embarrassing Christmas party photo could potentially haunt you.

Read this advice on making your Facebook history a bit less voyeuristic.

Cleaning these items up, of course, doesn't make them disappear altogether, because we all know the internet is the modern version of eternity.  However it will make things more difficult for the average stalker and will give you at least a thin shield as privacy policies become a lot less private.