A controversial bill known as The Cybersecurity Act of 2012, introduced by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and backed by the Obama Administration, did not receive the 60 votes it needed in the Senate to move forward on Thursday.
Instead, with the clouture vote coming in at 52 to 46, the legislation — which would have set up a system to allow private companies and government agencies to share information with each other about national security threats, information that could include private Web user data — appears dead for now, as Congress is scheduled to go on August recess on Friday and won’t return until September 7. With Congress resuming its session so close to the election, it is unlikely the bill, or any alternatives, will end up getting passed this year.