Warring Senate Factions Punt Cybersecurity Bill Until After the Election

Today’s failure in the Senate to end debate on the latest cybersecurity bill and bring it to a final vote will likely mean no action on the issue until next year. And the debate over how government agencies should share critical security information with private software and services firms has resulted in splits in allegiance on both sides of the aisle: bill sponsor Sen. Joe Lieberman (I – Conn.) from the presidential candidate he supported, Sen. John McCain (R – Ariz.); and outspoken personal rights advocate Sen. Al Franken (D – Minn.) from the president he supported, Barack Obama.

A “cloture” vote requires a three-fifths majority of Senators for support, and is necessary to close debate on a bill and bring a motion for a vote to the floor. Last week, Sen. Franken introduced a major amendment to the bill that would have removed even more of Sen. Lieberman’s original language, specifically on the subject of empowering ISPs to take their own countermeasures in response to assessed threats. Franken argued that the bill’s current language would let ISPs act in any way they saw fit in countering a perceived threat, under the same blanket protections from prosecution as the rest of the public/private partnership. “If a company uses that power negligently to snoop in on your e-mail or damage your computer, they will be immune from any lawsuit,” Franken warned.

Still, Franken voiced his support for the bill in principle, calling it “the only game in town.” But apparently early this week, as the National Journal first reported, two Republican amendments to the bill that could best be described as poison pills were filed, forcing Majority Leader Harry Reid (D – Nev.)