H.R. 2596: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr2596/text
When enacted, Section 603 will FORCE online companies to inform Washington of any “actual knowledge” of “facts and circumstances” related to VAGUE UNDEFINED supposed terrorist activity.
Vague language makes independent journalists, political, anti-war, and social justice activists, academics and students doing legitimate research, as well as others vulnerable to being called suspected terrorists.
The possibility could FORCE self-censorship due to fear of having your door kicked in at 3am and being shipped to a black site. Internet service providers will be forced to hand over IP's that have ANY wording which may in any way, no matter how VAGUE, be possibly construed as terrorism.
Any one with a computer connected to the internet would become a suspect, due to ALL language being flagged. After all Washington can't have it's citizens thinking to much. H.R. 2596 is so VAGUE in it's wording that the entire English language becomes suspect.
In a sane world, where leaders are not paranoid of their own citizens, one's definition of terrorist activity can be another way of describing freedom fighting.
Section 603 of H.R. 2596 will immediately violate the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution. It is only a matter of time before the US Constitution becomes totally illegal.
The Internet Association representing dozens of technology companies said vague language about what constitutes terrorism creates “an impossible compliance problem.”
It’ll result in “massive reporting of items that are not likely to be of material concern to public safety.” Wyden said “Internet companies should not be subject to broad requirements to police the speech of their users.”
Thirty-one civil liberties organizations and trade associations expressed opposition to Section 603 of H.R. 2596 .
They include Project Censored, the Media Freedom Foundation, the ACLU, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Consumer Federation of America, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, and American Library Association among others.
Innocent people committing ZERO crimes would be at risk. The real purpose of this H.R. 2596 bill is that it would hold all Americans hostage. The slightest whim of a government official is all it would take to turn an innocent person into a terrorist.
It would be very easy to turn Americans against each other with the threat of being charged under H.R. 2596: Intelligence Authorization Act. After all after this bill is passed EVERYONE will now be guilty of terrorism. It will be selected prosecution which decides who is an who is not a terrorists.
“Whether a given comment is a true threat of violence, an expression of a sincerely held religious belief, or a simple joke among friends is a determination that Internet providers are ill-suited to make. Especially, when the consequence of reporting an innocent person to the government under the suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities would most likely END that citizen's life.
Section 603 of H.R. 2596 is unconstitutional using any litmus test that involves sanity. To say that H.R. 2596 over steps the government's right to rule is to say that Stalin was a little to strict.
And... for actually doing Washington's job of protecting it's citizens, Washington NOW wants in payment all Americans to surrender their Constitutionally protect rights.
When did American citizens become the enemy of the State?
