the internet black out

on thursday (april 18th), a bill was passed by the united states house of representatives entitled “CISPA” or “Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protect Act.” it will now be sent to senate, and if passed, will be put to the presidents desk to be made a law or to be vetoed. this bill will break the barrier between the government and all private sector entities of the internet such as facebook, twitter, google, and yahoo.

what this means for you is that you will no longer have a right of privacy on the internet. the government will have full access to what we say and do online, much like listening in our phone calls. you can think of this like a complete stranger sitting next to you while you read through your personal emails and talk to friends on facebook or twitter. except this time, you don’t know the person is there, why, and what it is they’re looking through.

however, we can try to fight back. on monday, april 22nd, there will be an online protest, as suggested by the group “anonymous,” called the blackout. millions of web developers, website owners, and online users are urged to shut off their internet for 24 hours as a virtual protest against our online privacy being compromised.

you can read more about the CISPA Act here, and get more information about the Blackout here. to keep up with the latest information regarding both the CISPA Act & the blackout, click here.