President Obama's advisors said he would potentially veto CISPA, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, an internet security act currently working its way through the House Chamber.
CISPA sets guidelines for tracking and preventing a cyber attack on major corporations and the U.S. government. But its (perhaps intentionally) vague language would allow companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook and AT&T almost unrestricted spying and data gathering capabilities on their customers, information which could then be shared with the Department of Homeland Security without any judicial oversight, effectively circumventing all privacy safeguards.
Republican House members and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, have been gathering support for the bill, which has yet to receive the frenzied attention its predecessors SOPA and PIPA did. Some vulnerable Democrats appear to be hedging their bets by supporting the bill, fearing challengers could portray them as soft against terrorism.
Obama aide's stated that they would recommend vetoing CISPA "in its current form," suggesting that the administration was amenable to necessary changes. Ruppersburger and Chairman Mike Rogers responded that the changes desired by the White House would be added:
The SAP was limited to the bill in "its current form"—however, as the bipartisan managers of the bill announced yesterday—they have agreed to a package of amendments that address nearly every single one of the criticisms leveled by the Administration, particularly those regarding privacy and civil liberties of Americans.
Meanwhile, some believe the presidential veto is nothing but a bluff, noting that a veto threat delivered by aides is less severe than had it been issued by Obama himself.
"It’s a lower level threat in my judgment," said Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Tx). "It would be very difficult for the president to veto something like that."
The White House favors a separate bill authored by Joe Lieberman and others that contains more privacy safeguards, but that bill is stalled in the Senate.
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Related: CISPA Would Allow Cyber Monitoring And Sharing Between Internet Companies, Government
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