A controversial national cybersecurity bill known as CISPA is gaining momentum as it heads toward a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives this week. The Center For Democracy and Technology, one of the main online advocacy groups protesting the bill, on Tuesday night released a statement indicating that it would be supporting several last-minute amendments to the bill that would enforce protections for Web user personally idenfitiable information. As CDT said its statement:
“In sum, good progress has been made. The [House Intelligence] Committee listened to our concerns and has made important privacy improvements and we applaud the Committee for doing so. However, the bill falls short because of the remaining concerns – the flow of internet data directly to the NSA and the use of information for purposes unrelated to cybersecurity. We support amendments to address these concerns. Recognizing the importance of the cybersecurity issue, in deference to the good faith efforts made by Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Ruppersberger, and on the understanding that amendments will be considered by the House to address our concerns, we will not oppose the process moving forward in the House. We will focus on the amendments and subsequently on the Senate.”
CDT has also updated its main website to change a banner that formerly called upon users to protest CISPA to say “Progress, but flaws remain.”
CDT reiterated to TPM that it wasn’t officially withdrawing its opposition, only “switching focus” to the amendments and the Senate. Still, the move bodes well for the chances of CISPA getting passed as it heads to the House floor this week for a vote.
