Mark Clayton at the Christian Science Monitor reports that the U.S. House of Representatives voted 248 to 168 late Thu., Apr. 26 to approve the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a "cybersecurity" bill that would have internet providers turning over internet records without warrants. Techdirt's Leigh Beadon reports that, in a last-minute amendment to the bill,

"three more valid uses have been added: investigation and prosecution of cybersecurity crime, protection of individuals, and protection of children. Cybersecurity crime is defined as any crime involving network disruption or hacking, plus any violation of the CFAA. Basically this means CISPA can no longer be called a cybersecurity bill at all. The government would be able to search information it collects under CISPA for the purposes of investigating American citizens with complete immunity from all privacy protections as long as they can claim someone committed a "cybersecurity crime". Basically it says the 4th Amendment does not apply online, at all. Moreover, the government could do whatever it wants with the data as long as it can claim that someone was in danger of bodily harm, or that children were somehow threatened—again, notwithstanding absolutely any other law that would normally limit the government's power."

Locally, Rep. Chris Gibson (R-Kinderhook) and retiring Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-Hurley) voted against the bill. President Barack Obama threatened to veto the bill on Wednesday.