[Libs-Or] INFORMATION Fwd: [ALA Connect] Late Breaking News on Legislation: letter sent on S. 3480 - for cybersecurity bill (new) - ALA Committee on Legislation (COL)

[Diedre Conkling]

FYI

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <connect at ala.org>
Date: Wed, Jun 23, 2010 at 2:07 PM
Subject: [ALA Connect] Late Breaking News on Legislation: letter sent on S.
3480 - for cybersecurity bill (new) - ALA Committee on Legislation (COL)
To: diedre08 at gmail.com

>From ALA Committee on Legislation (COL)
New Post: "Late Breaking News on Legislation: letter sent on S. 3480 - for
cybersecurity bill"
By Lynne Bradley DC
------

text of District Dispatch - June 23, 2010

In anticipation of a June 24th Senate mark-up on S. 3480, the /Protecting
Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010, /ALA has sent a letter, in
conjunction with the Surveillance Coalition, proposing significant
improvements to the legislation.  Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT.), chair of
the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,
introduced the bill earlier this month.  Cosponsors, at this time, are
Senators Thomas Carper (D-DE.) and Susan Collins (R-ME.)  The Surveillance
Coalition includes OpenTheGovernment.org, the ACLU, the Center for Democracy
and Technology and OMBWatch, in addition to ALA.

The bill’s sponsors propose creating an Office of Cyber Policy in the White
House as well as a National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications
within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS.)  The latter would be
created to “enforce cybersecurity policies through the government and the
private sector.”  Controversy has swirled around the bill because of what
some critics describe as giving the president an “Internet kill switch”
allowing the government to take over the Internet.

One such report quoted Lieberman as dismissing the notion that S. 3480
“would give the president access to an Internet kill switch…however, …the
government needs to be able to ‘disconnect parts of its Internet in a case
of war.’ (PCMag reports in /Mobile Meta/ on June 23rd ,
http://mobilemeta.com/lieberman-backs-away-from-internet-kill-switch/ [1])
  Lieberman added: “The president will never take over — the government
should never take over the Internet,” Lieberman said during CNN’s “State of
the Union,” according to a transcript.

But the Surveillance Coalition remains concerned about many free speech and
privacy problems in the bill.   The group’s letter emphasizes the need “to
ensure that cybersecurity measures do not unnecessarily infringe on free
speech, privacy and other civil liberties interests.”

The coalition asks Lieberman and his committee to “clarify the scope of the
legislation by restrictively defining CCI [critical communications
infrastructure] so that cybersecurity responsibilities the bill imposes fall
only on truly critical network components.”   The coalition also asks that
the bill include a strict First Amendment scrutiny test to discern that “the
action must further a compelling governmental interest and must be narrowly
tailored to advance that interest. “

Many people remain concerned about S. 3480 and the implications for
information sharing and privacy.  The bill would require CCI owners and
operators to share cybersecurity “incident” information with [the Department
of Homeland Security] DHS, which will share some of that information with
law enforcement and intelligence personnel.   ALA, like others in the
coalition, remains concerned that personally-identifiable information could
be included.   The letter goes on to ask that the bill be changed to “ensure
that information sharing activities be conducted only in accordance with
principles of Fair Information Practices as articulated by the DHS Privacy
Office.”

The coalition also asks for more transparency and public reporting in its
letter.  “While the bill includes several provisions requiring reports to
Congress, including reports about cybersecurity emergencies about monitoring
Internet traffic to and from government agencies for cybersecurity purposes,
it should clarify that these reports must be made publicly.”

ALA will be closely monitoring the June 24th mark-up and will report on
developments with this legislation as it moves forward.

To view this Post in Connect, go to http://connect.ala.org/node/106460.

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[1] http://mobilemeta.com/lieberman-backs-away-from-internet-kill-switch/




-- 
Diedre Conkling
Lincoln County Library District
P.O. Box 2027
Newport, OR  97365
Work phone & fax:  541-265-3066
Work email:  diedre at beachbooks.org
Home email:  diedre08 at gmail.com
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