Feinstein's Folly

Here we go again. Can any bill make it through Congress without being used by our elected officials as their own personal campaign contribution solicitation fund? Crooks and Liars posted an entry on the attempted rape of the senate's version of the stimulus bill by US Senator Diane Feinstein. Apparently, Feinstein is trying to insert an amendment into the bill to allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) the power to "manage" network traffic in order to deter child pornography, copyright infringement, and other unlawful activity.

The IT watchdog group Public Knowledge has reported that the Motion Picture Association of America is behind Feinstein's folly. This is really about the MPAA attempting to use the legislative branch of our government to stop the financial bleeding caused by the public's streaming of illegal copies of movies and television programs over the Internet. Due to the fact that copyright infringement laws are so hard to enforce in the digital age Feinstein is willing to give ISPs the power to peek into every packet of data on the Internet because this is the only way to find illegal files. This is akin to the US Post Office opening every piece of mail looking for child pornography. How would you feel if your mail arrived already opened every day?

Just how hypocritical can Feinstein be? Here is one of the most outspoken senators against the former Bush administration and his unconstitutional programs alowing domestic spying on US citizen's telephone and email communications doing the exact same thing. Apparently, when it suits their personal needs our elected officials are willing to use the U.S. Constitution as toilet paper.

Perhaps it time we take to the streets...