The Legislation That Could Kill Internet Privacy for Good - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic

Here's a solution in search of a problem. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, head of the Democratic Party, Representative from Florida, wants to protect America's children.

She wants to keep them safe from pedophile predators.

All this sounds good until you realize she wants to out-Tipper All Gore's ex-wife in order to do so.

She's sponsoring a bill that would, if passed, track EVERY American's internet activity and store it in a government database for up to 18 months.

Your IP, your name, your credit card number, your address, every single site you visited. It would presumably be the most hacked database in the history of man.

All to potentially stop some child porn viewers. Yes, odious folks. Folks currently being caught by other means just fine, thank you. Indeed police and prosecutors are baffled as to why this law is even necessary. They're doing great without it.

It is draconian, it violates the rights of all Americans. It could potentially drive millions off of the internet and kill online purchases in general.

More on how leaning on IP tracking may not work anyway.