FBI plans new Net-tapping push

[Flatbar]

At sometime in the future, that warping Spitfire just may have a good excuse.

It's the FBI, not my connection!!

The FBI has drafted sweeping legislation that would require Internet service providers to create wiretapping hubs for police surveillance and force makers of networking gear to build in backdoors for eavesdropping, CNET News.com has learned.


http://news.com.com/FBI+plans+new+Net-tapping+push/2100-1028_3-6091942.html

Remind me again, what country am I living in?

[Nilsen]

That just isnt right

[Brenjen]

I wasn't aware the F.B.I. could draft legislation. That bothers me 1,000 times more than the thought of someone listening in while I am insulted on forums all over the world.

[uvwpvW]

Originally posted by Flatbar
Remind me again, what country am I living in?

The soon to be 4th Reich.

[lukster]

Not new and the US certainly isn't the only country infringing on the privacy of it's citizens.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4049750-110837,00.html

[rpm]

Originally posted by Flatbar
Remind me again, what country am I living in?

[DieAz]

Originally posted by Brenjen
I wasn't aware the F.B.I. could draft legislation.

anyone can draft a legislation. getting a legislator to sponsor it, to get it on the floor, debated, and passed is a different ballgame.

there was an article in the NC Farm Bureau Magazine a couple of months ago about this.

so next time ya say there oughtta be a law, draft one out, send it to the representatives. better yet, show up in their offices and present it to them. talk to them, convince them to sponsor it. if it is a good idea, they'll stamp their name on it and present it to congress as their idea. gotta remember its politicians ya dealing with, they love to steal thunder. once they do steal it, try not to raise a stink about it. they'll look at you as a friend afterwards.

IMO politicians can kiss my ***. but anyway thats another story.

[Gunslinger]

Before you all drink the Koolaid you may want to know that such laws allready exist:

http://www.epic.org/privacy/wiretap/calea/calea_law.html

In addition before the sky falls on you I didn't see anywhere in the article where there was a violation of civil rights.  It didn't say anywhere that authorities could circumvent warrents required for wire tapping.  

In addition it is unreasonable to expect our law enforcement agencies to do their job completly blind folded with their hands behind their backs.  It would be like sending them to a gun battle armed with only pepperspray.  

As technology evolves so does the law enforcment needed.....or would you have there be no law enforcment at all in this country?  Somone hacks into yours and other's bank accounts online would you want to hear from the FBI "we don't have the capabilities to investigate this"?

[Maverick]

I believe that drafting legislation is a conflict of interest for the FBI. IIRC they are prohibited from engaging in political activity.

[Debonair]

j edgar hoover* has dirt on probably 534 of the 535 members of congress.
the FBI could get them to tounge wash their office windows if hoover* wanted them to

*please replace "hoover" with whomever is running the show today.
i dont know who that is, nor do i care enough to wikigoogle it

[Bad31st]

What a stellar idea - Lets force networking companies to create back doors to allow for compromised network security.

Seriously, what a bunch of pu**ies! I can hear the conversation at the FBI now...Hummm we need to eaves drop on these internet users. So what's stopping you? Hummm we didn't bother to learn anything about computers or networking because we thought only geeks take computer classes. Well lets hire someone who knows how computers and networks operate. Nahh, lets just get a bill passed that will do the job for us, who cares if said bill will open up yet another security hole in the already OPEN architecture of the internet.

Lazy bastards...

[Thrawn]

Originally posted by Maverick
I believe that drafting legislation is a conflict of interest for the FBI. IIRC they are prohibited from engaging in political activity.

Dear lord in heaven, the FBI was created to be political police.

[Holden McGroin]

Originally posted by Thrawn
Dear lord in heaven, the FBI was created to be political police.

The Department of Justice under Bonaparte (AG under T Roosevelt) had no investigators of its own except for a few Special Agents who carried out specific assignments for the Attorney General, and a force of Examiners (trained as accountants) who reviewed the financial transactions of the federal courts. Since its beginning in 1870, the Department of Justice used funds appropriated to investigate federal crimes to hire private detectives first, and later investigators from other federal agencies. (Federal crimes are those that were considered interstate or occurred on federal government reservations.)

By 1907, the Department of Justice most frequently called upon Secret Service "operatives" to conduct investigations. These men were well-trained, dedicated -- and expensive. Moreover, they reported not to the Attorney General, but to the Chief of the Secret Service. This situation frustrated Bonaparte, who wanted complete control of investigations under his jurisdiction. Congress provided the impetus for Bonaparte to acquire his own force. On May 27, 1908, it enacted a law preventing the Department of Justice from engaging Secret Service operatives.

The following month, Attorney General Bonaparte appointed a force of Special Agents within the Department of Justice. Accordingly, ten former Secret Service employees and a number of Department of Justice  investigators became Special Agents of the Department of Justice. On July 26, 1908, Bonaparte ordered them to report to Chief Examiner Stanley W. Finch. This action is celebrated as the beginning of the FBI.  

[Nash]

If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear.

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!

[Holden McGroin]

On August 25, 2002, the Canadian Department of Justice, Solicitor-General and Industry Canada released a document entitled “Lawful Access – Consultation Document” (the “Consultation Document”) which proposes to amend several Canadian statutes, including the Criminal Code and the Competition Act, in consideration for the ratification of the Council of Europe Cyber-Crime Convention (the “CCC”).

The Canadian government’s discussion paper proposes requiring all providers of Internet, wireline and wireless services to add surveillance capabilities to their networks to allow police and security agencies to monitor on users’ communications (mobile and landline phone calls, emails,
Internet browsing, etc.) The purpose the government intends to address with this Consultation Document is the evolution of modern telecommunications and computer networks such as the Internet.

Such technologies, according to the government, “pose a significant challenge to law enforcement and national security agencies that require lawful access to communications and information, as these technologies can make it more difficult to gather the information required to carry out effective investigations.”

Looks like we are just trying to keep up with the neighbors.