House committee sees spying bill pass. The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill through to the House that would mandate American Internet providers retain their users’ information for 12 months, according to EFF. H.R. 1821 would require ISPs to keep “personal information that could be used to identify what Web sites you visit and what content you post online.”
This bill was opposed by politicians from both parties, as well as 30 privacy groups. That didn’t stop the Judiciary committee from voting for it, 19 to 10. See ReadWriteWeb’s coverage of the bill in terms of its possible violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
China monitors Wi-Fi connections. According to Global Voices:
“Beijing Police has issued a notice to all the cafes and bars which provide Wi-Fi access to their customers to install a RMB20,000 monitoring system. Upon installation, users have to register their ID in the counter before logging in the Wi-Fi network. The notice was issued by the Beijing police around end of June, 2011 to cafe, bookstore, and bar which provide free Wi-Fi access to their customers. If they reject, they will no longer be allowed to provide free Wi-Fi service.”
U.S. government indicts Twitter user for stalking. William Cassidy criticized a public official on Twitter and now faces jail time for it under a stalking law. Opponents argue that the law in question was designed to prohibit the use of tech to locate stalking victims, not to criticize public figures.
