House approves CISPA 248-168 — RT: The House of Representatives has approved CISPA with a vote count of 248-168. The bill is now headed for the Senate. President Barack Obama will be able to sign or cancel it pending Senate approval.
Initially slated to vote on the bill Friday, it decided to pass it Thursday after approving a number of amendments.
The snap vote took place after Congressional legislators approved a number of amendments to CISPA. Apart from cyber and national security purposes, the bill would now allow the government to use private information obtained through CISPA for the investigation and prosecution of “cybersecurity crime,” protection of individuals and the protection of children. The new clauses define “cybersecurity crime” as any crime involving network disruption or hacking.
CISPA was introduced in the House last November. Since then, a number of amendments have been adopted. Critics chided the bill, saying its broad wording could allow the government to spy on individual Internet users and block websites that publish vaguely defined ‘sensitive’ data. The White House issued a statement Wednesday saying President Barack Obama would be advised to veto the bill if he receives it.
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