Free Speech, Privacy, and Copyrights

SOPA, 2011 Current status: Shelved Pro: Current laws don’t protect content creators from people who pirate or steal their intellectual property. Con: Law allows anyone to take down any site without due process. Could easily be abused. Supported by: Motion Picture Association of America Opposed by: Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter, eBay

CISPA, 2012,’13 Current status: awaiting action in Senate Pro: Allows companies to share info w/ intel agencies(NSA/CIA) w/o getting in trouble to thwart hackers. Con: The type of info shared with intel agencies is vague and could include medical records. Supported by: Cox, Verizon, AT&T, IBM, Intel Opposed by: Ron Paul, Elec. Frontier Found., Mozilla Firefox

CISA, 2014 Current status: on way to Senate floor Pro: Similar to CISPA. Companies must protect users’personal info. Gov’t limited to using info only for cyber threats. Con: Information shared is still vague. Could include personal info without Probable Cause. Supported by: Unknown. Opposed by: Elec. Frontier Found., Open Tech Inst., ACLU