Aspirational Canadian.

hotelquebec:

Four years ago, on the 21st of April, two lads proved their genius in making music. Happy b’day, The Age of The Understatement.

Tracklist:

1. The Age of the Understatement
2. Standing Next To Me
3. Calm Like You
4. Separate And Ever Deadly
5. The Chamber
6. Only The Truth
7. My Mistakes Were Made For You
8. Black Plant
9. I Don’t Like You Anymore
10. In My Room
11. Meeting Place
12. The Time Has Come Again

Alex & Miles, we want more.

We miss The Last Shadow Puppets.

youranonnews:

WHAT IS CISPA?

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (H.R. 3523) is a bill introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Representatives Mike Rogers (D-MI) and C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger (D-MD) in late 2011. It amends the National Security Act of 1947 to allow private companies and US government intelligence agencies to share information regarding perceived cyber threats.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH CISPA?

1. CISPA’s language, particularly in reference to how it defines “cyber threat” is far too broad. 

The vague definition of a “cyber threat” is so vague that it may potentially allow the bill to encompass a far more broad range of actors than initially contemplated by its authors. A critical term in the bill, “cyber threat” is defined therein as:

…information directly pertaining to a vulnerability of, or threat to a system of network of a government or private entity, including information pertaining to the protection of a system or network from —

(A) efforts to degrade, disrupt, or destroy such system or network; or

(B) theft or misappropriation of private or government information, intellectual property, or personally identifiable information.

Under this overly broad, vague definition, whistleblowers and leakers such as Wikileaks, tech blogs with the latest rumours and gossip from companies, news and media sites, security researchers, torrent sites (including our beloved Pirate Bay), and of course, yours truly,Anonymous, would all be ripe targets under this bill.

Additionally, as the Electronic Frontier Foundation notes, CISPA’s broad definition of “cybersecurity” is so vague as to leave open the door “to censor any speech that a company believes would ‘degrade the network.’” Going one step further, the bill’s inclusion of “intellectual property” no doubt means that both private companies and the federal government will likely be granted “new powers to monitor and censor communications for copyright infringement.” (Full EFF letter here)

2. CISPA demonstrates a complete disregard for reasonable expectations of privacy protection and essential liberties. 

As laid out, CISPA allows a large, nearly unchecked quantity of any and all information on a target to be shared between private companies and government agencies. The bill’s text states, “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a self-protected entity may, for cybersecurity purposes…share such cyber threat information with any other entity, including the Federal Government.”

Why is this problematic? As it stands, CISPA’s text allows for a slippery slope of information and data that could be shared amongst private companies and the federal government without any regard to a target’s personal privacy protections. Such information could very well include account names and passwords, histories, message content, and other information not currently available to agencies under current federal wiretap laws.

In a position letter addressed to Congress on 17 April 2012, CISPA critics point out:

CISPA  creates  an  exception  to  all  privacy  laws  to  permit  companies  to  share  our   information  with  each  other  and  with  the  government  in  the  name  of  cybersecurity.   Although  a  carefully-­‐crafted  information  sharing  program  that  strictly  limits  the   information  to  be  shared  and  includes  robust  privacy  safeguards  could  be  an   effective  approach  to  cybersecurity,  CISPA  lacks  such  protections  for  individual   rights.    CISPA’s  ‘information  sharing’  regime  allows  the  transfer  of  vast  amounts  of   data,  including  sensitive  information  like  internet  use  history  or  the  content  of   emails,  to  any  agency  in  the  government  including  military  and  intelligence  agencies   like  the  National  Security  Agency  or  the  Department  of  Defense  Cyber   Command.

3. The broad language in CISPA provides for an uncertain future and a slippery slope of cybersecurity warrantless wiretapping. 

Of particular concern is the word “notwithstanding,” which is a dangerously broad word and would allow CISPA to apply far beyond even the intentions of its authors. It is clear the word was purposefully included (and kept throughout rewrites) by the bill’s authors to allow CISPA to supersede and trump all existing federal and state civil and criminal laws.

The fact that the sponsors and authors of CISPA claim that they have no intention to use the overly broad language of the bill to obtain unprecedented amounts of information on citizens should be of little comfort to a concerned onlooker. As it stands, if CISPA passes in Congress and is signed into law by the President, its broad language WILL be law and will be available for use by agencies and companies as desired. Why should our only protection against rampant cyber-spying be us trusting them NOT to take CISPA over the line of acceptable data collection?

WOW, CISPA SUCKS! HOW CAN I HELP STOP IT?

Below are some various ways that YOU can get involved in the online and real world struggles against CISPA. It will take all of us to stop this bill, but we did it before with SOPA, PIPA, and hopefully ACTA, and we’re confident that it can be done again with CISPA. The voice of the People WILL be heard loud and clear, and you can help. Your voice matters. It’s time to stand up for your rights because, in the end, who else will? Internet, unite!

Educate a Congressman about the Internet and pitfalls of CISPA - here

Call a Congressman directly about the bill - here

Email a Congressman directly about the bill - here

Sign and pass around online petitions - here || here || here

Spread awareness. Tweet, blog and post about CISPA. Use the hashtags #StopCISPA and #CISPA so everyone can follow. Change your profile picture to an anti-CISPA image or add a STOP CISPA banner.

Tweet to CISPA’s proponents, @HouseIntelComm and @RepMikeRogers and let them know about the pitfalls of CISPA.

Let CISPA’s sponsor, Rep. MikeRogers, know how much his bill fails - here

Check out Fight For The Future’s #CongressTMI movement in regard to CISPA - here

Join the Twitter Campaign and Contact a Representative about CISPA - here

Protest. Organise in front of Congress and let them know what happens when they try to govern the Internet and strip our liberties in the name of national security. If you organise an IRL protest, please contact us @YourAnonNews so we can facilitate spreading the word on it and helping boost attendance.

I WANT TO LEARN EVEN MORE ABOUT CISPA! TELL ME MORE!

Ok…clearly you like reading and knowing the issues thoroughly. Below are some more helpful resources that you can check out to get an even BETTER understanding of CISPA and how it will affect the world of tomorrow should it pass and become law.

Full text of CISPA, including recent rewrites and Amendments - here

Full list of CISPA co-sponsors - here

Full list of companies and groups that explicitly support CISPA - here

INFOGRAPHIC on CISPA - here

Center for Democracy & Technology’s CISPA Resource Page - here

Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Statement on CISPA and its Intellectual Property Implications 

Video news report from RT, ‘CISPA is a US cyber-security loophole’ - watch

CNET In-Depth: Even an attempted rewrite of CISPA failed to safeguard civil liberties and privacy - read

CISPA is pushed by a for-profit cyber-spying lobby that stands to profit immensely from the bill becoming law in the US - read

Why CISPA Sucks - read

A brilliant series of TechDirt articles on CISPA shed some light on the bill and point out exactly where its flaws are found -

CISPA is a Really Bad Bill, and Here’s Why - read 

Did Congress Really Not Pay Attention to What Happened with SOPA? CISPA Ignorance is Astounding - read 

Forget SOPA, You Should Be Worried About This Cybersecurity Bill - read

Even Obama seems to dislike CISPA — On 17 April 2012, the White House issued a statement criticising CISPA for lacking strong privacy protections and failing to set forth basic security standards.

minalskare:

This would be my reaction as well.

Me too. Though I think I’m shorter than her. So I’d be about nipple height on Skarsy.

policedisco:

pancreaskid

jesus christ

I had this poster in my locker in middle school.

I totally wanted those pants.

I still want that hair color.

evenskyfalling:

“I’m not that innocent…”