You give EFF too much credit. The ACLU, the American Library Association, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Liberty Coalition (both libertarian/conservative groups -- the latter includes Bob Barr and Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform), Reporters Without Borders, etc. sent a letter yesterday to Congress opposing CISPA.
I'm not sure why you think the very smart lawyers and legislative counsel at the ACLU, the ALA, etc. are incapable of reaching their own conclusions about the relative merits of legislation.
I hope you're right that CISPA isn't about spying on Americans. The problem is that, as written, it allows precisely that, with the cooperation of the same companies that have opened their networks to the FedGov in the past. If the wildcard language trumping all state and federal privacy laws were deleted, I think a lot of the (informed) opposition would vanish.
BTW, there were "lots of lawyers involved in the process" of creating SOPA. Look how that turned out. I'd be far more comforted if there we had fewer lawyers and more technologists involved. :)
I'm not sure why you think the very smart lawyers and legislative counsel at the ACLU, the ALA, etc. are incapable of reaching their own conclusions about the relative merits of legislation.
I hope you're right that CISPA isn't about spying on Americans. The problem is that, as written, it allows precisely that, with the cooperation of the same companies that have opened their networks to the FedGov in the past. If the wildcard language trumping all state and federal privacy laws were deleted, I think a lot of the (informed) opposition would vanish.
BTW, there were "lots of lawyers involved in the process" of creating SOPA. Look how that turned out. I'd be far more comforted if there we had fewer lawyers and more technologists involved. :)
More: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57422693-281/ and http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57574196-38/