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Senator Prevents Action on Online Privacy Bill

Posted by michael on from the sabot-in-the-gears dept.

securitas writes "The NYTimes tells us Senator Trent Lott forced the Senate Commerce Committee to adjourn this morning as it was on the verge of adopting an online privacy bill requiring ISPs and commercial Web sites to get customers' permission before they could disclose important personal information. That would include financial, medical, ethnic, religious and political information along with Social Security data and sexual orientation. I urge Trent Lott's constituents to make your voices heard on this. Same goes for readers whose senators serve on the Senate Commerce Committee." Salon and EPIC have written about Hollings' bill.

5 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Checks and Balances? by Renraku · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Apparently the government doesn't want to adopt this bill. Well, that could be wrong. Maybe the person in question didn't want the government to adopt the bill. Regardless, the rest of tne Senate should have called his shit on it and ignored him, going on to adopt the bill.

    --
    Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
  2. Goddamn it! by CleverNickName · · Score: 2, Flamebait

    I'll just adjust my cynical hat for a sec, and loudly proclaim, "These ^%$#!ing people in Congress consistently vote in favor of large corporations, at the expense of normal people like you and me. A CORPORATION IS NOT A PERSON! Last time I checked, we were by THE PEOPLE for THE PEOPLE, not for the corporations."

    This kind of crap just makes me sick.

    I am now writing a letter (with a pen, on paper) to send to the committee. I urge EVERYONE ELSE to do the same.

    1. Re:Goddamn it! by garett_spencley · · Score: 2, Flamebait

      It can all be summed up in one of my favourite quotes (from the song Freedom by Rage Against The Machine):


      Evironment.
      The enviornment exceeding on the level of our unconsiouness.
      For example: what does the billboard say?
      Come and play. Come and play.
      Forget about the movement.


      It's for reasons like this that I refuse to vote. Not because I don't think that my vote makes a difference but because I don't believe that who I vote for will do anything differently than who I don't vote for.

      The current system in North America just doesn't work. It's not about the people. It's about the profit. It doesn't matter who you vote for. The elected (if they are truly elected *cough*clinton*cough*bush*cough) will either become corrupt and turn against you or they will be shot dead (like JFK and X).

      So even if I were to make a difference and get a 3rd party in office they're either going to do exactly the same thing as a major party would have done or they will be shot dead because they will piss off the wrong people.

      The only time anything will change is when > 50% of the population decides that it's time to change their government. It will start by people rebelling against authority. Not just anyone but people who normally wouldn't like programmers and house wives. Then when things start to get really out of hand and the government gets the military involved you have a typical civil war on your hands.

      And when that's all said and done history will repeat itself once more.

      --
      Garett

  3. Same old Republican crap. by fmaxwell · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Why is anyone surprised by this? The Republican party is much more interested in the desires of big business than they are in protecting the citizens.

    Businesses want to be able to sell information that they collect about you. They want to sell your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address to other businesses so that you will be inundated with spam e-mail, junk mail, and telemarketing calls while you try to eat dinner or watch a DVD.

    The Republicans in Congress think it's fine for drug stores to sell information about what prescription medications you take. They are the same ones that have fought for insurance companies, even ones you don't do business with, to have access to all of your medical records. So they are not going to have a lot of concern about Yahoo selling your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address to some "business partner."

    When it comes to issues of privacy and consumer rights, the Democrats are, by and large, far better.

  4. Re:Yesterday's News by God_Retired · · Score: 2, Flamebait

    Same thing that all the fuckhead Republicans did to all the dimwit Democratic judicial nominees under Clinton. Don't try to make this something to take sides about. It's just, , sorry about that, governement as usual.