In association with heise online

02 May 2012, 16:03

CISPA: Mozilla distances itself from the cyber security act

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • submit to slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
  • submit to reddit

Scales

Microsoft has denied reports claiming that the company had withdrawn its support for the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA); however, another US company has now officially spoken against the proposed bill: Mozilla.

According to a report by Forbes business magazine, Mozilla said that, while it supports a more secure internet, it thinks that CISPA is going too far. Mozilla was reported as saying that "The bill infringes on our privacy, includes vague definitions of cybersecurity, and grants immunities to companies and government that are too broad around information misuse." In its statement, the company added that it hopes that "the US Senate takes the time to fully and openly consider these issues with stakeholder input before moving forward with this legislation."

The bill was passed by a large majority of members in the House of Representatives last Thursday and now only needs to be passed by the US Senate. The US president, Barack Obama, has vehemently criticised the bill and is expected to veto it. However, no criticism had previously been heard from US businesses, instead, Facebook, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Oracle and Symantec have expressed their support directly or indirectly via their industry associations. According to Forbes, Google hasn't yet taken a position on the proposed bill.

The probability of a veto by Barack Obama has not diminished, especially as the House of Representatives has added various amendments. These amendments allow companies and government authorities to exchange information not only with respect to cyber attacks, but also during the investigation of "crimes" that involve the exploitation of minors or to prevent mortal danger. In the Senate, the US government is supporting a bill by senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins that would give the DHS the authority to define security standards for the net.

See also:

(ehe)

Print Version | Send by email | Permalink: http://h-online.com/-1565532
 


  • July's Community Calendar





The H Open

The H Security

The H Developer

The H Internet Toolkit