H.R. 3523, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA)

Summary: This is a tough bill.  We face serious threats to our critical infrastructure, commercial and private computer systems.  These threats don’t come from lovable hackers like the Matthew Broderick character in the movie War Games.  These come nation-states like China that are seeking to engage in corporate espionage.  These threats are real and ongoing. CISPA’s main purpose is to allow the government and private sector to cooperate in stopping these attacks.

Unfortunately, this type of information sharing with the government raises privacy issues.  We do not want the government having access to terabytes of information that they can data mine.  We do not want to make those using legitimate encryption and anonimizing services criminals.  We don’t want our private emails read by Washington DC bureaucrats.

Rep. Farenthold Votes: NO
Passed in the House by a vote of 248-168

Cost: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that implementing H.R. 3523 would have a discretionary cost of $15 million over the 2012–2016 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.