I don't want Microsoft junk that spies on me in my own car and if Microsoft gets their way I won't have a choice. With all the problems I've had with Microsoft products I would hate to put my trust in a vehicle that is controlled by Microsoft software and fear others who will be driving around with such cars. Get ready for these Microsoft powered cars to randomly shut off the engine at highway speeds, new updates render the car unusable, and Microsoft keeping track of where you travel and sell this to the government and data brokers to send you advertisements. Microsoft wants to force Windows 10 down everyone's throat!
This is the same government that created TSA approved locks to protect your belongings that can easily be defeated and opened and the same government who wants to build back doors into encryption. The back door in TSA approved locks rendered these locks useless and any back door in encryption will most likely render encryption worthless. The government will eventually mandate that all guns manufactured by build with this smart gun technology not giving consumers a choice between buying a "dumb" gun instead of the worthless smart gun. We were initially told that the full body scanners at airports will be optional but these scanners are now mandatory and before this recent decision by the TSA if someone walks out of a line to a scanner, the TSA flags this as suspicious behavior and you are subjected to further screening. We were told the TSA will only be in airports but the TSA is expanding to bus and train stations, roadblocks, entrance to sporting events, and other places. This same smart gun technology would be useful for a corrupt law enforcement organization to disable any resistance by someone trying to defend themselves against abuses of power. In addition, criminals will figure out how to disable smart guns rendering such guns worthless to people who are trying to protect themselves from criminals. A smart gun is a worthless gun and this should only be an OPTIONAL safety feature and not mandated by the government. What is stopping the government from putting surprises in the transmitter like what they have done for smart phones, computers, smart TV's, etc to allow them to further spy on citizens? Do you trust that the government won't abuse such technology? Do you trust that criminals will not be able to figure out how render such guns worthless so that they don't have to worry about someone resisting they attempt to attack someone?
I always wondered what people saw in Sarah Palin who quit as Governor of Alaska and wanted to be President of the United States. For some reason people consider her presidential material just like they do Trump.
You don't have to look too far to see how dumbed down Americans have become. Trump is the leading Republican candidate for the President of the United States. People have said that they don't want to vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump but if things go as they are they will vote for one of these candidates even though they hate both of them. It's quite sad since the reason politicians won't listen to them is because they don't have to since they don't have to worry about losing votes to third party candidates of some independent. If they feared losing votes, they would start listening to the people rather than big business. They believe that they need to give up rights to the TSA and NSA in order to win "the war on terror" that was supposed to end with the capture or death of Bin Laden but is another endless war like the "war on drugs".
Exactly, during the 1980s Americans were sold that asset forfeiture will help win the "war on drugs". What they don't realize is that this act allows law enforcement to take possession of cash, cars, and other property without due process. Now that some of them have been the victim of civil asset forfeiture they are demanding this legislation be eliminated but are also playing the blame game trying to figure out which party to blame asset forfeiture on. Now they see no problems with allowing the government to snoop on them and give up other rights and it will be too late when they realize that this is a bad idea after they fall victim to abuses of these rights and want these rights back.
If you want to see how dumb some Americans are take a look at the comments on YouTube to one of the many videos of the TSA violating someones civil rights. You will see some people say that the TSA has overstepped their bounds but you will also see many people respond to these comments by saying that this person is a paranoid idiot and the TSA is here to protect us and that if Americans don't submit to the TSA civil rights violations then some terrorist will blow up a plane again. Others will cite that there hasn't been a plane blown up since the TSA has taken over airport security when prior to the 9/11 attacks, there wasn't any terrorist attack involving airliners for many years. A lot of Americans are even for expanding the presence of the TSA. Others will tell people who object to the TSA that they are free to move to another country or "take the bus".
With Trump leading in one of the major parties and Americans not having a problem with the government snooping on them I am not proud to say I live in the USA. People here are voluntarily giving up freedoms to feel safe not realizing that in the process they are losing the rights that our military fought for for over 200 years. Once these rights are taken away, we won't be getting them back and by the time they wake up and realize what is happening it will be too late to fight the loss of our freedoms since they will already by gone.
Sad to say but I think your right. I've seen many Americans simply say that we need to have the government snoop on us to protect ourselves from terrorists. How many Americans actually know someone who was injured or killed in a terrorist attack? Terrorism doesn't happen as often as a lot of Americans think. They are more likely to be struck by lightening or to win the lottery than be involved in some terrorist attack. The terrorists that carried out the 9/11 attacks and other attacks wanted Americans to fear terrorism and have succeeded in their mission more than they thought they would. Americans are willingly giving up their rights in "the war on terror". They don't mind that the government is snooping on them and that this snooping doesn't necessarily stop terrorism as evidenced by the recent San Bernardino attack and the Boston Marathon Bombing a few years ago. They are willing to allow airport security to be taken over by the government and giving people who are nothing more than mall cops the ability to strip search them and decide if they will be able to fly to their destination. They figure "as long as it stops someone from blowing up a plane I'm okay with it" even though their chances of being involved in such a plot is rare and giving up these rights doesn't protect you from such events. I think Americans have forgotten their history and keep listening to the propaganda on TV about how we need to give up rights in order to win the "war on drugs" and the "war on terror". They don't realize the consequences of giving up these rights. Sadly when they wake up it will be too late!
Sadly the United States use to be the land of the free and thanks to dumbing down of our education system and citizens ignoring the history of what happens when you allow the government to snoop on you, people don't realize how the government can abuse this power. It's embarassing enough that the leading candidate of one of the major parties is Donald Trump and he has gotten even more popular by making comments that he thinks Muslims should be required to register with the government similar to how the Jewish had to register with the German Government prior to World War II. He also advocates killing members of a terrorists family who may have nothing to do with their family member's terrorist beliefs and loves the USA. As Benjamin Franklin once said "anyone willing to give up liberty for a false sense of security deserves neither". It's sad to say the US is no longer the land of the free and people don't care since they are watching the Kardashians or whoever it is and don't mind giving up freedom as long as they are able to watch TV. They don't realize that these freedoms that are being taken away will eventually affect them and by the time they notice it will be too late.
Sounds like the 1980s when states were required to lower their speed limits to 55 MPH or lose federal funding for to maintain highways. States also could lose federal highway funding if their police departments didn't ticket enough motorists for speeding. They would have a sensor placed on the road to count how many motorist are speeding an a stretch of the Interstate highways and if a state has too high of a percentage of speeders vs. citations issues, they could lose highway funding. It sounds like the states will have the right to continue to reject the Real ID act or face consequences such as loss in funding to maintain their airports. States couldn't afford to lose funding (for the 55 MPH speed limit) and complied rather than voluntarily refused to loser the speed limit and even asked the government to reconsider and raise the speed limit to 65 MPH which they did in the late 80s. Now I believe they have freedom to decide their own speed limits.
One more hassle when renewing a drivers license when you can simply present fake birth certificates and other fake ID to obtain a fake Real ID drivers license. The Government probably knows it is easy to forge these Real ID cards (by simply supplying fake birth certificates and other documents to obtain it) but like the idea of a centralized database that can be used to track everybody and they can pull up where you have traveled in the past. One more hassle for flying as well. Does the government really believe that terrorists will use Real ID cards that aren't fake? It's still easy to forge a birth certificate and other documentation to have a Real ID card issued to you.
The states should truly have the option to opt out of this and so should individuals in states that have voluntarily decided to comply with the Real ID act.
I think the TSA should be forced to repay airlines when they screw up but the TSA would probably refuse to admit that they made a mistake like they always do especially if they had to repay the airline company for the fares someone pays after they are denied boarding due to an error by the TSA. In a lot of ways the TSA has more power than the police department. If I was wanted by the police and they figured out that I was boarding a flight they would probably have to go to a judge to get some kind of warrant to come onto a plane to search for me or to search for me at an airport. They would get into a lot of trouble if it turned out that I was not the person they were looking for after taking me into custody and I missed my flight as a result.
Edward Snowden also did what he felt was the morally correct thing to do when he revealed illegal wiretaps by the US Government. Look where he is now: hiding in Russia to avoid being prosecuted by the US Government for blowing the whistle.
That's why they would rather you not know. The real purpose of the surveillance state isn't to catch terrorists as the Department of Homeland Security and your politicians claim it is for. It is a "tool" that they can use to go on fishing expeditions to find people who are breaking the law, not just terrorists. Prior to the Patriot Act a lot of the things in the Patriot Act were attached to other bills to fight the "war on drugs". After 9/11 they saw a great opportunity to pass laws that normally wouldn't pass.
I googled my name and found 3 web sites that provide my name, address, and telephone number. One even had a map on how to get to my house. So much for having unlisted numbers. These sites refused to take down my information. In fact one site even told me I have to join their site for $19.95 a month in order to have control of what information they post about me even though I didn't give them my information and did not authorize them to publically publish my name, address, and phone number.
You better watch out for the IRS! It seems they are able to catch people who have found ways to evade the FBI and other law enforcement authorities. Remember that if you are getting a refund on your taxes, don't file a tax form to claim this refund or the government will find out where you live.
I nearly missed a flight after a BDA (Behavioral Detection Officer) saw some kind of red flag in my behavior on a flight from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas. Does the airline reimburse you if you miss a flight through no control of your own? Are they able to book you on another flight without charge? In my case I arrived two minutes before the scheduled departure time after questioning about where I planned to stay, how I planned to get to my hotel from the airport, what I plan to do on my trip, and other personal questions that didn't seem to be their business and I didn't feel comfortable divulging the details to my planned trip to a stranger even if it is a TSA officer. I barely made my flight in time. In fact I spend more time in the interview with TSA officers than flying to Las Vegas.
A lot of Americans no longer travel by air because of the TSA and the fact they must give up their Fourth Amendment rights and be molested in order to fly an airplane. Unfortunately there are a lot of Americans who simply don't care or are misinformed. Some think it is a fair trade-off not realizing that the TSA is nothing more than security theater and even worse than the security they replace. They also don't realize how unconstitutional the TSA is with some of the things they do to people. Others have no opinion because they are more interested in what is happening in Hollywood than what is happening in their country and either don't know or don't care. As evidenced by Trump managing to be the frontrunner of a major party, it says a lot about the education level of some Americans. In fact, after he makes outlandish comments about plans that are unconstitutional, he gains even more support.
Nothing like planning on taking a trip by airplane and once you get to the airport being told you won't be flying. You ask why and the only thing they can tell you is you are on the no-fly list but cannot tell you why you are deemed a threat to national security and cannot be allowed to fly. It sounds like one of the family members happened to have a similar name to someone on the no-fly list and as a result of this stupid list, they cannot fly. You can challenge this but chances are you will be in an uphill battle since you have no idea why you are on this list in the first place and they cannot tell you because it's "classified". They are spared the disappointment of going to Disneyland but I'm sure that Disneyland wasn't the only thing planned for during their trip to the United States.
First it will be alleged terrorist sites then it will be sites like the Electronic Frontiers Foundation or the ACLU, eventually sites that criticize or question the US government will be included in the list of sites you cannot visit. The scary part is a lot of people have no understanding of their Constitutional rights and are all for this under the impression that it will make them safe from terrorist attacks when you are more likely to be struck by lightening that be involved in a terrorist attack.
Even if a company doesn't want to reveal logs to the government they could be forced to. For example the company Lavabit had encrypted emails and the NSA wanted a back door installed and the company to hand over the encryption keys. The founder of the company refused and had to shut down his company because he didn't want to violate the privacy of his customers by handing over the keys and installing a back door. Any company that is physically located in the US or within US jurisdiction cannot be trusted.
Let me add that the Patriot Act was probably just a bunch of inserted bills that prior to 9/11 were unable to pass and had so many last minute add-ons that the paper was still warm from being printed when Congress passed the Patriot Act. Another example is the Affordable Care Act where Congresswoman Feinstein was quoted as saying "we have to pass it before we know what's in it".
Qwest is a company that operated in the West and Northwest who was bought out by the crappy company CenturyLink. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks the government asked telco's to voluntarily give phone data to the US Government. Qwest refused and it is believed that one of their CEO's that was charged with an unrelated charge and spent time in federal prison was charged in retaliation for refusing to hand over their customer information after 9/11 like the rest of the telco's did.
Yes it is important and like any other legislation our politicians see as important, if the legislation is rejected by voters they simply attach it to other bills such as budget bills. The US Government has been trying to eliminate privacy for many years. First they wanted to monitor the internet and phone conversations to win the "war on drugs" then it was to catch sex offenders and now it is a "necessary tool" for the war on terror. Even though CISA was rejected by US Citizens our politicians feel that they know better than us and will do whatever they can to pass CISA which is why it ended up being attached to a budget bill. If Congress or the President tries to stop the legislation, they will be accused of not supporting the budget even if the reason is they were opposed to CISA but we all know that both parties strongly support legislation such as CISA.
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I don't want Microsoft junk that spies on me in my own car and if Microsoft gets their way I won't have a choice. With all the problems I've had with Microsoft products I would hate to put my trust in a vehicle that is controlled by Microsoft software and fear others who will be driving around with such cars. Get ready for these Microsoft powered cars to randomly shut off the engine at highway speeds, new updates render the car unusable, and Microsoft keeping track of where you travel and sell this to the government and data brokers to send you advertisements. Microsoft wants to force Windows 10 down everyone's throat!
This is the same government that created TSA approved locks to protect your belongings that can easily be defeated and opened and the same government who wants to build back doors into encryption. The back door in TSA approved locks rendered these locks useless and any back door in encryption will most likely render encryption worthless. The government will eventually mandate that all guns manufactured by build with this smart gun technology not giving consumers a choice between buying a "dumb" gun instead of the worthless smart gun. We were initially told that the full body scanners at airports will be optional but these scanners are now mandatory and before this recent decision by the TSA if someone walks out of a line to a scanner, the TSA flags this as suspicious behavior and you are subjected to further screening. We were told the TSA will only be in airports but the TSA is expanding to bus and train stations, roadblocks, entrance to sporting events, and other places. This same smart gun technology would be useful for a corrupt law enforcement organization to disable any resistance by someone trying to defend themselves against abuses of power. In addition, criminals will figure out how to disable smart guns rendering such guns worthless to people who are trying to protect themselves from criminals. A smart gun is a worthless gun and this should only be an OPTIONAL safety feature and not mandated by the government. What is stopping the government from putting surprises in the transmitter like what they have done for smart phones, computers, smart TV's, etc to allow them to further spy on citizens? Do you trust that the government won't abuse such technology? Do you trust that criminals will not be able to figure out how render such guns worthless so that they don't have to worry about someone resisting they attempt to attack someone?
I'm not saying the US is the only dumb country or the dumbest country in the world.
I always wondered what people saw in Sarah Palin who quit as Governor of Alaska and wanted to be President of the United States. For some reason people consider her presidential material just like they do Trump.
You don't have to look too far to see how dumbed down Americans have become. Trump is the leading Republican candidate for the President of the United States. People have said that they don't want to vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump but if things go as they are they will vote for one of these candidates even though they hate both of them. It's quite sad since the reason politicians won't listen to them is because they don't have to since they don't have to worry about losing votes to third party candidates of some independent. If they feared losing votes, they would start listening to the people rather than big business. They believe that they need to give up rights to the TSA and NSA in order to win "the war on terror" that was supposed to end with the capture or death of Bin Laden but is another endless war like the "war on drugs".
Exactly, during the 1980s Americans were sold that asset forfeiture will help win the "war on drugs". What they don't realize is that this act allows law enforcement to take possession of cash, cars, and other property without due process. Now that some of them have been the victim of civil asset forfeiture they are demanding this legislation be eliminated but are also playing the blame game trying to figure out which party to blame asset forfeiture on. Now they see no problems with allowing the government to snoop on them and give up other rights and it will be too late when they realize that this is a bad idea after they fall victim to abuses of these rights and want these rights back.
If you want to see how dumb some Americans are take a look at the comments on YouTube to one of the many videos of the TSA violating someones civil rights. You will see some people say that the TSA has overstepped their bounds but you will also see many people respond to these comments by saying that this person is a paranoid idiot and the TSA is here to protect us and that if Americans don't submit to the TSA civil rights violations then some terrorist will blow up a plane again. Others will cite that there hasn't been a plane blown up since the TSA has taken over airport security when prior to the 9/11 attacks, there wasn't any terrorist attack involving airliners for many years. A lot of Americans are even for expanding the presence of the TSA. Others will tell people who object to the TSA that they are free to move to another country or "take the bus".
With Trump leading in one of the major parties and Americans not having a problem with the government snooping on them I am not proud to say I live in the USA. People here are voluntarily giving up freedoms to feel safe not realizing that in the process they are losing the rights that our military fought for for over 200 years. Once these rights are taken away, we won't be getting them back and by the time they wake up and realize what is happening it will be too late to fight the loss of our freedoms since they will already by gone.
Sad to say but I think your right. I've seen many Americans simply say that we need to have the government snoop on us to protect ourselves from terrorists. How many Americans actually know someone who was injured or killed in a terrorist attack? Terrorism doesn't happen as often as a lot of Americans think. They are more likely to be struck by lightening or to win the lottery than be involved in some terrorist attack. The terrorists that carried out the 9/11 attacks and other attacks wanted Americans to fear terrorism and have succeeded in their mission more than they thought they would. Americans are willingly giving up their rights in "the war on terror". They don't mind that the government is snooping on them and that this snooping doesn't necessarily stop terrorism as evidenced by the recent San Bernardino attack and the Boston Marathon Bombing a few years ago. They are willing to allow airport security to be taken over by the government and giving people who are nothing more than mall cops the ability to strip search them and decide if they will be able to fly to their destination. They figure "as long as it stops someone from blowing up a plane I'm okay with it" even though their chances of being involved in such a plot is rare and giving up these rights doesn't protect you from such events. I think Americans have forgotten their history and keep listening to the propaganda on TV about how we need to give up rights in order to win the "war on drugs" and the "war on terror". They don't realize the consequences of giving up these rights. Sadly when they wake up it will be too late!
Sadly the United States use to be the land of the free and thanks to dumbing down of our education system and citizens ignoring the history of what happens when you allow the government to snoop on you, people don't realize how the government can abuse this power. It's embarassing enough that the leading candidate of one of the major parties is Donald Trump and he has gotten even more popular by making comments that he thinks Muslims should be required to register with the government similar to how the Jewish had to register with the German Government prior to World War II. He also advocates killing members of a terrorists family who may have nothing to do with their family member's terrorist beliefs and loves the USA. As Benjamin Franklin once said "anyone willing to give up liberty for a false sense of security deserves neither". It's sad to say the US is no longer the land of the free and people don't care since they are watching the Kardashians or whoever it is and don't mind giving up freedom as long as they are able to watch TV. They don't realize that these freedoms that are being taken away will eventually affect them and by the time they notice it will be too late.
Sounds like the 1980s when states were required to lower their speed limits to 55 MPH or lose federal funding for to maintain highways. States also could lose federal highway funding if their police departments didn't ticket enough motorists for speeding. They would have a sensor placed on the road to count how many motorist are speeding an a stretch of the Interstate highways and if a state has too high of a percentage of speeders vs. citations issues, they could lose highway funding. It sounds like the states will have the right to continue to reject the Real ID act or face consequences such as loss in funding to maintain their airports. States couldn't afford to lose funding (for the 55 MPH speed limit) and complied rather than voluntarily refused to loser the speed limit and even asked the government to reconsider and raise the speed limit to 65 MPH which they did in the late 80s. Now I believe they have freedom to decide their own speed limits. One more hassle when renewing a drivers license when you can simply present fake birth certificates and other fake ID to obtain a fake Real ID drivers license. The Government probably knows it is easy to forge these Real ID cards (by simply supplying fake birth certificates and other documents to obtain it) but like the idea of a centralized database that can be used to track everybody and they can pull up where you have traveled in the past. One more hassle for flying as well. Does the government really believe that terrorists will use Real ID cards that aren't fake? It's still easy to forge a birth certificate and other documentation to have a Real ID card issued to you. The states should truly have the option to opt out of this and so should individuals in states that have voluntarily decided to comply with the Real ID act.
I think the TSA should be forced to repay airlines when they screw up but the TSA would probably refuse to admit that they made a mistake like they always do especially if they had to repay the airline company for the fares someone pays after they are denied boarding due to an error by the TSA. In a lot of ways the TSA has more power than the police department. If I was wanted by the police and they figured out that I was boarding a flight they would probably have to go to a judge to get some kind of warrant to come onto a plane to search for me or to search for me at an airport. They would get into a lot of trouble if it turned out that I was not the person they were looking for after taking me into custody and I missed my flight as a result.
Edward Snowden also did what he felt was the morally correct thing to do when he revealed illegal wiretaps by the US Government. Look where he is now: hiding in Russia to avoid being prosecuted by the US Government for blowing the whistle.
That's why they would rather you not know. The real purpose of the surveillance state isn't to catch terrorists as the Department of Homeland Security and your politicians claim it is for. It is a "tool" that they can use to go on fishing expeditions to find people who are breaking the law, not just terrorists. Prior to the Patriot Act a lot of the things in the Patriot Act were attached to other bills to fight the "war on drugs". After 9/11 they saw a great opportunity to pass laws that normally wouldn't pass.
I googled my name and found 3 web sites that provide my name, address, and telephone number. One even had a map on how to get to my house. So much for having unlisted numbers. These sites refused to take down my information. In fact one site even told me I have to join their site for $19.95 a month in order to have control of what information they post about me even though I didn't give them my information and did not authorize them to publically publish my name, address, and phone number.
You better watch out for the IRS! It seems they are able to catch people who have found ways to evade the FBI and other law enforcement authorities. Remember that if you are getting a refund on your taxes, don't file a tax form to claim this refund or the government will find out where you live.
I nearly missed a flight after a BDA (Behavioral Detection Officer) saw some kind of red flag in my behavior on a flight from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas. Does the airline reimburse you if you miss a flight through no control of your own? Are they able to book you on another flight without charge? In my case I arrived two minutes before the scheduled departure time after questioning about where I planned to stay, how I planned to get to my hotel from the airport, what I plan to do on my trip, and other personal questions that didn't seem to be their business and I didn't feel comfortable divulging the details to my planned trip to a stranger even if it is a TSA officer. I barely made my flight in time. In fact I spend more time in the interview with TSA officers than flying to Las Vegas.
A lot of Americans no longer travel by air because of the TSA and the fact they must give up their Fourth Amendment rights and be molested in order to fly an airplane. Unfortunately there are a lot of Americans who simply don't care or are misinformed. Some think it is a fair trade-off not realizing that the TSA is nothing more than security theater and even worse than the security they replace. They also don't realize how unconstitutional the TSA is with some of the things they do to people. Others have no opinion because they are more interested in what is happening in Hollywood than what is happening in their country and either don't know or don't care. As evidenced by Trump managing to be the frontrunner of a major party, it says a lot about the education level of some Americans. In fact, after he makes outlandish comments about plans that are unconstitutional, he gains even more support.
Nothing like planning on taking a trip by airplane and once you get to the airport being told you won't be flying. You ask why and the only thing they can tell you is you are on the no-fly list but cannot tell you why you are deemed a threat to national security and cannot be allowed to fly. It sounds like one of the family members happened to have a similar name to someone on the no-fly list and as a result of this stupid list, they cannot fly. You can challenge this but chances are you will be in an uphill battle since you have no idea why you are on this list in the first place and they cannot tell you because it's "classified". They are spared the disappointment of going to Disneyland but I'm sure that Disneyland wasn't the only thing planned for during their trip to the United States.
From the state that brought us former Senator Jesse Helms who was a Conservative Republican who was re-elected and served five terms.
First it will be alleged terrorist sites then it will be sites like the Electronic Frontiers Foundation or the ACLU, eventually sites that criticize or question the US government will be included in the list of sites you cannot visit. The scary part is a lot of people have no understanding of their Constitutional rights and are all for this under the impression that it will make them safe from terrorist attacks when you are more likely to be struck by lightening that be involved in a terrorist attack.
Even if a company doesn't want to reveal logs to the government they could be forced to. For example the company Lavabit had encrypted emails and the NSA wanted a back door installed and the company to hand over the encryption keys. The founder of the company refused and had to shut down his company because he didn't want to violate the privacy of his customers by handing over the keys and installing a back door. Any company that is physically located in the US or within US jurisdiction cannot be trusted.
Let me add that the Patriot Act was probably just a bunch of inserted bills that prior to 9/11 were unable to pass and had so many last minute add-ons that the paper was still warm from being printed when Congress passed the Patriot Act. Another example is the Affordable Care Act where Congresswoman Feinstein was quoted as saying "we have to pass it before we know what's in it".
Qwest is a company that operated in the West and Northwest who was bought out by the crappy company CenturyLink. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks the government asked telco's to voluntarily give phone data to the US Government. Qwest refused and it is believed that one of their CEO's that was charged with an unrelated charge and spent time in federal prison was charged in retaliation for refusing to hand over their customer information after 9/11 like the rest of the telco's did.
Yes it is important and like any other legislation our politicians see as important, if the legislation is rejected by voters they simply attach it to other bills such as budget bills. The US Government has been trying to eliminate privacy for many years. First they wanted to monitor the internet and phone conversations to win the "war on drugs" then it was to catch sex offenders and now it is a "necessary tool" for the war on terror. Even though CISA was rejected by US Citizens our politicians feel that they know better than us and will do whatever they can to pass CISA which is why it ended up being attached to a budget bill. If Congress or the President tries to stop the legislation, they will be accused of not supporting the budget even if the reason is they were opposed to CISA but we all know that both parties strongly support legislation such as CISA.