<fact>
I went ahead and signed the petition.
</fact>
<opinion>
The comments I've read so far seem pretty thoughtful both pro and con.
And for the most part, the US government acts in good faith.
BUT, on occasion we find ourselves looking pretty foolish when we believe uncritically what a government says (Iraq war) or horrified at what seems to be gratuitous heavy-handedness on the government's part (Swartz.)
And despite what former Secretary Clinton would like you to believe, there is no reset button on government legitimacy. Like an individual's reputation, it takes years to restore what was eroded in hours.
And while cyber attacks seem to represent a threat best countered by an organization that commands resources on a national scale, can we really trust them to do the right thing?
Hell, they put a PFC in a position to disseminate State Department messages. Anyone who's done a stint in the Army knows not to put a PFC in charge of anything except maybe a trigger, and even then under the guidance of an NCO.
</opinion>
<speculation>
I forward the hypothesis that the government has more interest in tracking (untaxed) financial transactions than thwarting cyber attacks.
The government's ability to fund itself has come to rely heavily on the Fed buying US debt, which some might call "printing money".
The longer that continues, the less credible the US dollar becomes in world finance.
The only thing keeping the dollar afloat is the rather poor state of the euro and yen, and the world's reluctance to trust China or Russia.
So the US is going fishing for sources of loot.
If the hypothesis is true, CISPA might be a godsend to Joe Six-Pack, or at least better than what's happening in Cyprus.
But in the end I think we'll get CISPA and Cyprus.
</speculation>
<opinion> The comments I've read so far seem pretty thoughtful both pro and con.
And for the most part, the US government acts in good faith.
BUT, on occasion we find ourselves looking pretty foolish when we believe uncritically what a government says (Iraq war) or horrified at what seems to be gratuitous heavy-handedness on the government's part (Swartz.)
And despite what former Secretary Clinton would like you to believe, there is no reset button on government legitimacy. Like an individual's reputation, it takes years to restore what was eroded in hours.
And while cyber attacks seem to represent a threat best countered by an organization that commands resources on a national scale, can we really trust them to do the right thing?
Hell, they put a PFC in a position to disseminate State Department messages. Anyone who's done a stint in the Army knows not to put a PFC in charge of anything except maybe a trigger, and even then under the guidance of an NCO. </opinion>
<speculation> I forward the hypothesis that the government has more interest in tracking (untaxed) financial transactions than thwarting cyber attacks.
The government's ability to fund itself has come to rely heavily on the Fed buying US debt, which some might call "printing money".
The longer that continues, the less credible the US dollar becomes in world finance.
The only thing keeping the dollar afloat is the rather poor state of the euro and yen, and the world's reluctance to trust China or Russia.
So the US is going fishing for sources of loot.
If the hypothesis is true, CISPA might be a godsend to Joe Six-Pack, or at least better than what's happening in Cyprus.
But in the end I think we'll get CISPA and Cyprus. </speculation>