05.05.2012 - 09:54 [ Venture Beat ]

Reddit on CISPA: ´People just want to know we give a shit´

For instance, last weekend the site’s users started organizing an elaborate Reddit-boycott due to unhappiness over the lack of attention Reddit management had given to the hotly debated cyber security bill CISPA.

CISPA, or the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, seeks to give American companies more legal breathing room when collecting and sharing consumer/user data in the scope of Internet security threats. Essentially, the bill’s goal is to encourage companies to share information with the government that may help it fight and prevent cyber security attacks. But the language in the bill is far too vague when it comes to distinguishing how the government can use that information, leading critics to brand it as pure and unadulterated evil. The bill also doesn’t provide an adequate description of what’s considered a “security threat”.