Lofgren Introduces New Internet Privacy, Security Bills

SOPA/PIPA foe says she wants to get the next conversation started on legislation

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/26/2012 1:04:07 PM

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) is backing a package of legislation she says provide the "key principles and tools for Internet privacy and growth."

Lofgren was one of the many Hill opponents of failed SOPA/PIPA privacy legislation in the last Congress. Her office pointed out that she "sounded the first warning cry in Congress over the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) [bill] that millions of Americans spoke out against as one of the greatest threats to the Internet," and said she was introducing her bills "to begin a serious conversation on the future of an open and free Internet."

With Congress out until the election, Lofgren's introduction of the bills is mostly to make a point. She concedes they are unlikely to get acted on by the end of the year, so she signaled she will reintroduce them in the next Congress.

The bills are H.R. 6529, which modifies the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which "strengthen the privacy of Internet and wireless users from outdated government surveillance laws," and H.R. 6530, the Global Free Internet Act, which "creates a U.S.-based task force composed of elected and non-elected government and private sector experts responsible for identifying and responding to domestic or international threats to Internet users, online services and the technical architecture of the Internet."

Republicans and Democrats were unable to agree on cybersecurity threat legislation in this Congress, divided over the government's role in creating and overseeing guidelines. A summary of the two bills is here.