Bob Schroeck Wrote:...
The Act concluded by defining a broad category of works -- including, among other things, anything covering spaceflight or computers -- which themselves were not banned but whose possession or consumption were considered indicative of potential "terrorist" tendencies requiring attention by Homeland Security.
...
In reaction to the bill's linking of computer books and subversive activities, a coalition of "Silicon Valley" corporations acted quickly to oppose the proposed legislation. Apple and Microsoft worked together on an ad campaign informally called "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC, and we're both being branded as terrorists", which was heavily promoted on Facebook, Netflix, and Google. Amazon and eBay added click-through banners to their systems saying that they would have to "go black" if the bill was passed.
More quietly - and more effectively - Brocade, Cisco, Dell, EMC, Hitachi, HP, IBM, NetApp, Oracle, Seagate, Symantec, and Western Digital pointed out to their government clients that the legislation's wording regarding publications about computers included training materials and documentation for their high-capacity network and data-storage hardware. As a result, if the bill passed, Homeland Security, DOD, and NSA would be required to either forego receiving training and support for their mission-critical computer systems or list themselves as potential terrorist organizations - the companies would have no legal choice but to report them as clients and thus suspicious. All three departments quickly referred their suppliers' concerns to their political masters, who were unable to convince Ms. Happery to accept amendments to the bill.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012