(Telecompaper) The US Senate has blocked a proposal to shield companies from lawsuits when they share cyber-attack information with each other and federal agencies after Democrats opposed adding it to a defense-funding bill, Bloomberg reported. Democrats, including ranking intelligence committee member Senator Dianne Feinstein, of California, are demanding that the Senate consider it separately from the defense legislation, saying the cyber measure is too serious to be coupled to other legislation. While there is broad agreement that companies should get legal protections for sharing data about online threats, the Obama administration has privately raised concerns about parts of the measure and privacy advocates warn it may create a government surveillance regime that violates privacy rights. Obama has threatened to veto the underlying defense bill because it exceeds agreed-upon budget caps for military spending. The Senate intelligence committee in March approved the legislation.