Google admits to lobbying on CISPA, but won’t say which way

Google has admitted that it is lobbying on the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), The Hill has learned, but the company is not saying what position it is taking. Therefore, it is difficult to parse what effect its lobbying may have.

Mike Rogers, the House Intelligence Committee Chairman, who wrote the bill, stated in the past that Google has been ‘supportive.’ Here’s Google on its public stance on CISPA: “We think this is an important issue and we’re watching the process closely but we haven’t taken a formal position on any specific legislation.”

That’s not going to hold back critics of the bill. One nod from a Congressman and a stonewall from corporate is likely enough to stir up the ire of privacy activists, who fear the Act. Google spent a good deal of time fighting the Stop Online Piracy Act, better known by its acronym ‘SOPA,’ which brought the issues relating to privacy from a legal perspective to minds of many; that Google may be supporting CISPA might anger those who had thought that the search giant was on their team.

Google is not alone in supporting CISPA, if it in fact does, as it will join tech giants Microsoft and Facebook in doing so, among others.

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TNW took a walk through CISPA, and came to the conclusion that it goes too far; its mandates and rules are too broad, and open to abuse, to make the potential benefits that it might bring worth the cost. You can read our full view here, which we recommend reading.

Google is going to have to take a position on CISPA in the next few days, or its silence will be construed as support, given Rogers’ statement. We’ll bring you their perspective when they make it known.