Paul Watson, Campus Carrier News Editor

A few months ago, there was a huge movement against the ACTA and SOPA bills, which would censor the Internet. Companies blacked out their websites in support and the people made their opinions known.

Now there’s a new threat that not many companies are talking about. It’s called the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA. It would grant the government the ability to, without warrant or even notification, search a person’s entire Web presence if they’re deemed a “cyber threat.”

That doesn’t seem so bad, right? Threats should be addressed! But to be labeled a threat, you literally have to post a photo on Facebook that isn’t yours. Once you do so, the government has every right to take your information.

Besides the obvious Constitutional infringement, there are reasons you should care. What does the government plan on doing with this information? Glad you asked. The government then can give this information, again without consent, to any company who’s interested, from Google to Facebook, to do with it what they want. Including prosecuting you for downloading that one song illegally that one time. In essence, companies would make bank from this bill, so they’re keepting their mouths shut.

President Barack Obama has already said he will veto the bill if it passes the Senate (it already passed the House of Representatives). Even so, with things like this bill and surveillance drones in the skies, it makes you wonder just what kind rights will be violated in 1984…er, I mean 2013.