We spoke to Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) earlier this week about a cybersecurity bill he’s been championing and trying to shepherd through the Senate. The bill seeks to spur greater adoption of higher security standards on corporate networks through, essentially, carrots instead of sticks. Instead of mandating those changes, the bill offers liability protection for companies that get sued in civil actions IF those companies meet the standards.
Critics of the bill say it really doesn’t do much of anything because no one is forced to go along with anything if they don’t feel like it.
The bill cleared a procedural hurdle yesterday on an 84-16 vote and seems headed for a vote next week, as expected. This doesn’t mean the bill is a slam dunk. For one thing, no way Lieberman could dunk a basketball.
(Senate Majority Leader Harry) Reid (D-Nev.) said he would welcome more amendments during the voting process, which Republicans said was key to winning their support for moving forward on the legislation.
“There’s plenty of room for changes,” Reid said on the floor Thursday. “Let’s have as many amendments as people feel appropriate.”
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), one of the sponsors of the competing SECURE IT Act, said earlier that she and the other sponsors wouldn’t block a vote on the Cybersecurity Act if the amendment process were truly open.
Microsoft and Oracle came out in support of it.
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