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Help us raise concerns about proposed cybersecurity legislation

 
ASNE and media organizations are extremely concerned about the proposed Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) that may be introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Cali., this week and even pushed through the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as early asThursday. Review a pre-introduction discussion draft of the bill. Once you read that and finish this summary, you'll understand why we're concerned. We hope you'll join us in airing your concerns to your senator, the intelligence Committee and the Senate at large.
 

ASNE and media organizations are extremely concerned about the proposed Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) that may be introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Cali., this week and even pushed through the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as early as Thursday. Review a pre-introduction discussion draft of the bill. Once you read that and finish this summary, you'll understand why we're concerned. We hope you'll join us in airing your concerns to your senator, the intelligence Committee and the Senate at large.

 

CISA is primarily aimed at making it easier for private organizations to share cybersecurity threats with one another and the government. It's yet another in a long line of efforts to combat threats posed by domestic and foreign hackers. In reality, the bill contains provisions that would have an effect beyond cybersecurity, potentially encroaching on newsgathering, mainly by allowing the government to use the information it has received to investigate and prosecute bad actors for violations of the Espionage Act.  

 

It's not entirely unlikely that an overzealous prosecutor could take information volunteered by a private company regarding classified information leaked from or, more likely, to a private computer on that company's network and use the fact of that leak to commence an investigation for a possible violation of the Espionage Act. At this point, especially if the recipient computer belongs to a journalist, we could see an increase in the number of subpoenas issue to reporters. But even if that doesn't come to pass, the increased allowance for unfettered, unchecked collection of information about leaked information will likely chill sources within government and private companies alike.

 

Several SGI member organizations raised these concerns in the attached letter sent to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence earlier Wednesday.  Please feel free to use this as the basis for your own outreach and, as always, feel free to contact ASNE Legal Counsel Kevin M. Goldberg at 703-812-0462 or goldberg@fhhlaw.com for more information.

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