New CISPA Bill Identical to Version Passed in House

As I promised, since the GPO was finally able to make a copy of HR 624, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), available yesterday, I have done a detailed review of the bill and it is virtually identical (two small, inconsequential wording changes) to the version of HR 3523 that was passed in the House last session, including the privacy provisions added during the House floor debate.

While this bill is being actively opposed by privacy advocates with a zeal that approaches paranoia, I really don’t see their concern. The bill has been watered down to the point where there are really no requirements to share information with the federal government about cyber-attacks and no real authority for the federal government to share information with the private sector.

This bill will make its way back to the floor of the House and will pass once again. The Senate will ignore the bill and we will be left with the information sharing provisions of the President’s EO without any legal protections to actually allow the information sharing to really proceed.