Leftish

Friends,

This is HUGE: President Obama just threatened to veto CISPA if it makes its way through Congress.

Please click here to urge Obama to stand strong, and to let your lawmakers know that you support Obama’s veto threat.

CISPA is up for a vote this week. It would obliterate any semblance of online privacy in the United States, giving the government — including the military — broad new powers to spy on Internet users.

The White House’s letter expresses precisely the concerns that we’ve been highlighting over recent weeks — and is a result of the public pressure against CISPA:

• The White House says that any cybersecurity legislation must preserve “Americans’ privacy, data confidentiality, and civil liberties and [recognize] the civilian nature of cyberspace.”

• It says that, “The bill also lacks sufficient limitations on the sharing of personally identifiable information between private entities and does not contain adequate oversight or accountability measures necessary to ensure that the data is used only for appropriate purposes.”

And the letter goes on to assert that:

The American people expect their Government to enhance security without undermining their privacy and civil liberties.

Without clear legal protections and independent oversight, information sharing legislation will undermine the public’s trust in the Government as well as in the Internet by undermining fundamental privacy, confidentiality, civil liberties, and consumer protections.

This is an amazing development.  Let’s make the most of it:

Just click here to urge Obama to stand strong and to tell your lawmakers to oppose CISPA.

Thanks.

-Demand Progress

PS- We only have a few days left to kill CISPA.  Please tell your friends to get involved by forwarding this email or using these links:

You can read the full letter from the White House here.
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