A very interesting musing thought piece

I’ve been dealing with tech stuff today, so the blog hasn’t been a priority.

I saw this musing piece through a boost. I wonder what people think of this?

Devin Prater: Boosting Earthshine (earthshine): I have not been seeing nearly enough discussion about what is poised to be one of the most dangerous bills to move through congress this decade.

For those not in the know, Senate Bill 686 The RESTRICT Act in its current form grants sweeping authority for the U.S. government to prosecute, fine, and imprison any person whom–among *many* other things–uses a VPN to access any “app” operated by a “foreign adversary” of the U.S.

The wording of the bill is so broad and vague that it can criminalize a wide range of technologies, and potentially even ensnaring U.S. citizens for conspiracy simply on the basis that they use a VPN that the US gov. can’t snoop on and see what they’re doing with it.

Let that sink in–you could face a minimum of 20 years in prison and from $250,000 up to $1,000,000 in fines, just for protecting your online privacy with a VPN, and your only recourse is to appeal in the D.C. circuit court.

The bill’s sponsors pinky promise it won’t be used for that, and it’s only meant to catch foreign actors engaged in subterfuge etc, but the language to back that claim just isn’t there. The anti-circumvention penalties and restrictions essentially put at risk anyone whom engages in any activity using these technologies due to the fact that if the technology is working, then the government can’t see what you’re using it for, and therefore simply using it could be used as the basis for charges of conspiracy to circumvent.

It is abundantly clear that if this passes, it can and will eventually be used to target anyone engaging in activities the government or its corporate sponsors don’t like.

This isn’t a slippery slope. It’s a lubed up vertical waterslide straight to weaponizing the acting regime’s list of potential “threats” against citizens engaging in protected speech.

Don’t just write your representatives. Call them. Demand that they oppose this bill, and vow to actively campaign for their opponents if they won’t.

If this passes, then ultimately no speech is protected in the U.S. It is 100% unconstitutional, but do you really trust our current courts stacked with political operatives to shoot it down?

Read the bill and see related info here:

link to Congress’s site for the bill

Go here to find your representatives and how to contact them about it:

rep finder

Here’s more reading on the bill and how it affects us:

link 1 from Reason
link 2 from Vice
daily dot link 3 for jail time on VPN use
link 4 for a discussion

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I’m leaving the emotes in, but they’ve been removed for reading purposes for the show. Might be worth musing about.