U.S. lawmaker to revive cyber information-sharing bill: report

[January 09, 2015]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Democrat in the House of Representatives plans on Friday to re-introduce a bill aiming to streamline how companies and the government share information on cyber threats, Washington newspaper The Hill reported on Thursday.

Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland told The Hill in an interview that he planned to reintroduce the legislation, which he co-authored last year with former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Representative Michael Rogers, a Republican from Michigan who retired from Congress.

Ruppersberger's spokeswoman on Thursday did not respond to an inquiry about the bill, known as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA).

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives last year for the second time passed that legislation, but efforts fizzled in the Democrat-controlled Senate, where Intelligence Committee leaders also unsuccessfully introduced a cybersecurity bill.

Though CISPA's prospects remain unclear, the re-introduction of cybersecurity information-sharing legislation would kick off a new effort to codify how companies and the government should interact in the face of a cyber threat or attack.

It would come on the heels of a crippling cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment film studio that precipitated online leaks of unreleased movies and emails that caused embarrassment to executives and Hollywood personalities.

Republicans this year control both chambers of Congress and could use their majority to pass CISPA, though the White House had in the past threatened to veto this legislation over privacy concerns.

The debate over cybersecurity legislation has been complicated by revelations last year by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden about the scope of U.S. government surveillance programs.

(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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