U.S. Wants to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet

by leavingwt 6 Replies latest social current

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  leavingwt

  U.S. Wants to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet

  Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is “going dark” as people increasingly communicate online instead of by telephone.

  Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct “peer to peer” messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages.

  The bill, which the Obama administration plans to submit to lawmakers next year, raises fresh questions about how to balance security needs with protecting privacy and fostering innovation. And because security services around the world face the same problem, it could set an example that is copied globally.

  James X. Dempsey, vice president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, an Internet policy group, said the proposal had “huge implications” and challenged “fundamental elements of the Internet revolution” — including its decentralized design.

  “They are really asking for the authority to redesign services that take advantage of the unique, and now pervasive, architecture of the Internet,” he said. “They basically want to turn back the clock and make Internet services function the way that the telephone system used to function.”

  . . .

  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/us/27wiretap.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print
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  BurnTheShips

  The bill, which the Obama administration plans to submit to lawmakers next year,

  We were told Obama was going to be different.

  Yet the police state continues to grow, regardless of who is in power.

  Tor.

  http://www.torproject.org/

  BTS
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  Dark Side

  Whether you believe it or not, doesn't much matter. It's well on it's way
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  leavingwt

  The Huffington Post chose a sensational photo/headline. . .

  

  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/27/internet-wiretaps-would-b_n_740064.html
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  brotherdan

  Ehhhhh...this is a slippery slope for me. The patriot act was such a dangerous political step anyway...

  I'm all for doing everything necessary to capture terrorists. I have nothing to hide, so I'm not worried if my email was checked for one reason or another. However, these are the steps that lead to a corruption of freedom. And I am not for that at all. When the federal governement has full access to the private information of all its citizens, that because a dangerous, volitile situation.
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  leavingwt

  They are basically demanding that providers design their systems for breach. This is massively stupid from a security perspective. In the summer of 2004, still unknown hackers exploited surveillance software built in to one of Greece’s major cell networks to eavesdrop on high government officials, including the prime ministers. The recent hack of Google believed to originate in China may have used a law-enforcement portal to acquire information about dissidents. More recently, we learned of a Google engineer abusing his access to the system to spy on minors.

  This demand has implications beyond the United States. Networks designed for interception by U.S. authorities will also be more easily tapped by authoritarian governments looking to keep tabs on dissidents. And indeed, this proposal echoes demands from the likes of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that their Blackberry system be redesigned for easier interception. By joining that chorus, the U.S. makes it more difficult for firms to resist similar demands from unlovely regimes.

  http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/designing-an-insecure-internet/
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  leavingwt

  The new law would not expand the Government's legal authority to eavesdrop -- that's unnecessary, since post-9/11 legislation has dramatically expanded those authorities -- but would require all communications, including ones over the Internet, to be built so as to enable the U.S. Government to intercept and monitor them at any time when the law permits. In other words, Internet services could legally exist only insofar as there would be no such thing as truly private communications; all must contain a "back door" to enable government officials to eavesdrop. . .

  http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/09/27/privacy/index.html