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Senator Prevents Action on Online Privacy Bill
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.
Using this procedural rule is actually quite common for Lott. He has invoked this rule several times over the past year to tie up the business of the senate. He did this after the nomination of Judge Pickering was defeated in Committee.
Of course, Lott also snipes at Daschle constantly for not clearing legislation in a timely manner. Go figure!
This is not the sig you are looking for...
Likewise with the Online Personal Privacy Act. It is masquerading as pro-consumer when in fact it is pro-business. The new legislation is similar to laws passed in Europe that divide your personal information into two types. The first is "sensitive" information, such as your financial and medical history, race, lifestyle, religion, political affiliation, and sex life. The second is "nonsensitive" information, and among that will include your name, address, and records of anything you buy or surf on the Internet. Under the act, business can't collect or divulge the sensitive bits without your express consent, but anything classified as nonsensitive can be freely collected and sold at will.
I guess anything that Hollings touches is evil.
In the eyes of the law, it is. The Supreme Court ruled about a hundred years ago that a corporation has almost all the same rights as a natural (i.e. human) person has. Coproations can own property in their names, sue and be sued, engage in political speech, etc. ad nauseum.
You think Skynet and the Matrix were scary-- just wait until the coprorations become sentient...
vote 3rd party...you are guronteed that they will do somthing diffrent....try the greens...they are hugly anti-corpreations.
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
Read the bill, or at least the comments WHY he shut it down.
I think that it shouldn't happen. This bill legalizes sharing of much personal information WITHOUT authorization.
It also legitimizes those constantly changing TOS that "by continuing to use the service you agree to"
This is NOT a personal privacy bill, this in an anti privacy bill.
Disagree with me if you want, but at least see what the bill and issues are BEFORE you go off half cocked complaining about this.
The Senator from Disney is sponsoring this bill, which many others have pointed out.
The current system in North America just doesn't work.
I've thought about this a lot, and it seems to me that the "right" thing to do is run yourself. Start small and work your way up to where you can make a difference.
So then I ask myself, why don't I run for office? I'm too lazy, and it's easier to put up with the crap being dealt me than it is to do something about it. Shameful but true.