This is a victory for the Internet."
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. Last Thursday after several months of lobbying from the Obama Administration Sen. Joe Lieberman & some top Democrats as well as an organized info-security industry the Senates Cyber Security Bill -- one of President Obamas top national security priorities died by an amazing Republican-led filibuster and the combined push of two unlikely allies: Privacy advocates & the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Whats unusual about this cohort is how savagely the two sides opposed each other in another legislative battle that only recently drew to close: The Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA).
Were actually quite excited" said Tiffiniy Cheng co-founder of Fight For the Future which opposed the bill. This is a victory for the Internet."
The Cyber Security Bill purpose was simple: establish security standards for the computer networks governing the countrys critical infrastructure but the Chamber and Fight for the Future a privacy advocacy group that joined almost two dozen other privacy groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation were able to convince six Democrats and a group of Republicans to oppose it.
As CNETs Declan McCullagh noted last November the Chamber was even more aggressive than
the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America in defending SOPA and attacking the legislations critics chief among those being the core privacy groups mentioned above.
During that battle Steve Tepp an IP attorney at the Chamber ripped apart privacy advocates saying they intentionally mislead and scare people to make their point and discharge hyperbole. In an irreverent blog post before Halloween he said privacy advocates are unpacking all their favorite ghouls and hobgoblins and making extreme and absurd claims.
Meanwhile the Electronic Frontier Foundation accused the group of egregious attempts to mislead the public about the bills true reach.
Now however the two sides can toast each other on a united legislative success. As the Los Angeles Times Ken Dilanian writes the Chamber strenuously opposed the cyber bill condemning it as excessive government interference in the free market and arguing that cumbersome federal regulations could hamper companies trying to defend against cyber intrusions.
Even after it was watered down the Chamber continued to oppose it. Meanwhile Talking Points Memos Carl Franzen covers the celebratory side of team privacy:
Fight For the Future and about two dozen other advocacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union Demand Progress and the Electronic Frontier Foundation were concerned about the ramifications that any cybsercurity information-sharing" laws would have on
individual Web user privacy.
Cheng co-founder of Fight For the Future noted that the defeat of the bill made for the third legislative win for Internet privacy groups this year including SOPA & PIPA SOPAs Senate counterpart.
If youre going to have a piece that affects privacy in any bill or trade agreement the Internet is going to rise up said Cheng.
And apparently where the battle lines are drawn wont always be predictable.
