cannabisnews.com: FBI Seeking To Wiretap Internet





FBI Seeking To Wiretap Internet
Posted by FoM on October 27, 2001 at 11:39:42 PT
By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos 
Source: FoxNews.com
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking to broaden considerably its ability to tap into Internet traffic in its quest to root out terrorists, going beyond even the new measures afforded in anti-terror legislation signed by President Bush Friday, according to lawyers familiar with the FBI’s plans.Stewart Baker, an attorney at the Washington D.C.-based Steptoe & Johnson and a former general consul to National Security Agency, said the FBI has plans to change the architecture of the Internet and route traffic through central servers that it would be able to monitor e-mail more easily.
The plans goes well beyond the Carnivore e-mail-sniffing system which allows the FBI to search for and extract specific e-mails off the Internet and generated so much controversy among privacy advocates and civil libertarians before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.“From the work I’ve been doing, I’ve seen the efforts the FBI has been making and it suggests that they are going to unveil this in the next few months,” Baker said of the plan.FBI Spokesman Paul Bresson said he was unaware of any development in the e-mail surveillance arena that would require major architectural changes in the Internet, but acknowledged that such a plan is possible.Any new efforts would “would be in compliance with wiretapping statutes,” Bresson said. “We would be remiss if we didn’t.” Such a move might have been unthinkable before Sept. 11.Last year, privacy groups and civil libertarians howled in protest when the FBI trotted out plans to start using the Carnivore system. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) in Washington was ready to go full rounds with the government in court over Carnivore, and House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, asked Attorney General John Ashcroft to take another look at its constitutionality.Now, though, the country is asking for more, not less, law enforcement on the Internet, and even those who once complained are coming around. “I have two minds on this,” says Fred Peterson, vice president of government affairs for the Xybernaut Corporation, which manufactures computer technology for military and law enforcement. The past six weeks have left little doubt in most peoples’ mind, he said, that new measures must be taken. “I think that the threat has increased and while (FBI) demands were unreasonable at a time when the threat was less immediate and less fatal – it’s just not the same story anymore,” he said.Others are still skeptical, though not as much.“I don’t think (FBI) motives are bad, but I do think they’re using people’s current state of mind – they’re using it to their advantage,” said Mikal Condon, staff attorney for EPIC.The new FBI plans would give the agency a technical backdoor to the networks of Internet service providers’ like AOL and Earthlink and Web hosting companies, Baker said. It would concentrate Internet traffic in several central locations where e-mail and other web activity could be wiretapped.Baker said he expects the agency will approach the Internet companies on an individual basis to ask for their help in the endeavor. But Jim Harper, staff counsel for privacy advocate Privacilla.org said the FBI may have a hard time convincing some companies to redesign the Internet on its behalf. “It’s not really surprising, but I would be shocked to see if it gets done,” he said. “Restructuring the Internet? I don’t think so.”Others say the Internet companies will not put up much of a fight.Sue Ashdown, executive director of the Washington-based American ISP Association, an Internet company trade group, said most Internet companies aren’t healthy enough financially to take on the government in court to protect their subscribers’ privacy rights. And no one, she says, wants to appear hostile to law enforcement right now.“I know there are a lot of members in the association with feelings on both sides,” said Ashdown. “In the current patriotic climate, enterprises of all types will likely play along with the FBI in order to avoid a public relations disaster,” said Gene Riccoboni, an Internet attorney with the Stamford, Connecticut-based Grimes & Battersby.Source: FoxNews.comAuthor: Kelley Beaucar Vlahos Published: Friday, October 26, 2001Copyright: Fox News Network, LLC 2001 Contact: comments foxnews.com Website: http://www.foxnews.com/Related Articles:Bush Signs Anti-Terror Legislation http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11196.shtmlBush Signs Bipartisan Bill to Combat Terrorismhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11195.shtmlAntiterrorism Bill Passes Gets Expanded Powerhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11191.shtml
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Comment #14 posted by Dan B on October 29, 2001 at 03:24:07 PT
Freedom Fighter
Great links.I typically spend the day after Thanksgiving at home watching the news stories about all those stupid people who decide that the busiest shopping day of the year is somehow the best shopping day of the year. Idiots. If they knew anything about economics, they'd realize that this day more than all others is the worst day to shop. When the retailers know the consumer demand will be high, prices will also be high. There will be "deals" on trinkets and wrapping paper, but the gift items soar in price during the days before Christmas.So, I concur. Stay at home during the holidays. If you must shop for Christmas, do it before Thanksgiving. At least you'll pay a little less.Dan B
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Comment #13 posted by freedom fighter on October 28, 2001 at 14:18:06 PT
The problem with this setup
is that there are hackers waiting for that opportunity. If those brain-dead feebs would dare to set up central servers that would route traffic so they can montior emails will destroy the internet businesses very easily. Check that link out. http://news.independent.co.uk/digital/news/story.jsp?story=101895 "But in a bizarre twist, the US internet investigators are being forced to also combat a group of between 500 and 1,000 vigilante computer hackers known as the "despatchers" who since the 11 September attacks has been attacking and defacing Muslim sites......."All in all, if the feebs went ahead with their plan, they are going to be shooting their own feet(both foot with one bullet) and not accomplishing a thing. I do not think they will be very sucessful for one thing, as we speak now, the economy is terrible now. I was reading comments down from Montana newspaper, one of the poster was complaining already that she lost 50% of her business due to Anthrax scare. Apparently, the lady was making homemade crafts which she sells at e-bay. She said that many customers informed her that they do not want to buy because she has to mail her work to her customers.Check this interesting banner http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd/http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd/toolbox/banner.htmlff
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Comment #12 posted by dddd on October 28, 2001 at 07:04:42 PT
You are exactly right Dr Dan
..The control does not have to be complete..............Lookinsides observation is true.A few people will be able to access the net via an unscreened venue,just as sattelite TV can access channels that are assumedly beyond the scope of censors,or manipulators......but,,,,Dan clarified what I was speaking of,,in that,,if you are Joe Sheeple,,renting a dwelling in Spokane WA,,and you get an internet connection,,,you may have a "choice",,between,AOL,Earthlink,or AT&T....much like the "choice",of ABC,CBS,NBC,or FOX....I do believe this is gonna happen,,,,in the next 5 or so years,,,maybe sooner...dddd
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Comment #11 posted by Dan B on October 28, 2001 at 06:48:12 PT
Internet control
The government does not have to shut down sites; it merely has to control access to sites. The way it will do this is by routing all requests for web pages through the same set of servers and equipping those servers with filtering software that will limit everyone in this country's access to online information. Essentially, it will be a nationwide censorship program aimed not at those who would post the information, but at those who wish to access it. Only government-sanctioned sites will be permitted.Americans will literally have to visit a more free country that does not institute full-scale government regulation of speech in order to learn anything true about what is going on in the United States. Or, we will have to develop underground information rings that bypass the government regulation system. Freedom of Information is over. Freedom of the press is over. Expect a swift escalation of censorship as the term "sedition" becomes a prominent fixture in the governmental vocabulary. We'll have to be clever when these policies are put into effect. In reality, the government cannot regulate 100% of information passed along in the country. There will always be an underground, and there will always be code words for what we are really talking about, information can be passed in the guise of anti-information propaganda, etc.Unfortunately, they don't have to have 100% control. They only have to control enough information to keep the majority in the dark. The Internet now threatens to inform the majority, but once regulation kicks in that will no longer be the case.As has been said before, enjoy this freedom while it lasts.Dan B
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Comment #10 posted by lookinside on October 28, 2001 at 06:25:05 PT:
dddd...
as i understand the net, anyone with a sattelite dish can go online(with the proper software) worldwide...this is a truly international venue...will the guvmint be able to unilaterally control the ENTIRE net? or just the ISP's here in the U.S.?how do we prepare for this possibility..?
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Comment #9 posted by dddd on October 28, 2001 at 03:00:42 PT
and here's how it will happen
..one day,,,,you will try to visit a site like this one,,or MAP,,or NORML,,,and it will say"waiting for reply" ,,or "Error 404..file not found"......So,,you will call your ISP,,and they will say;"we dont know what happened,,,but we do have a special offer on DSL,and cable connections this month".....websites will just start to mysteriously disappear,,,and no one will be able to explain why.....The government will say something like;"it may have something to do with Homeland Securitys',Cyber-terror division,,,but we are not allowed to disclose information related to Homeland security efforts on the internet",,,and that will be it.....dddd
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Comment #8 posted by dddd on October 28, 2001 at 02:26:21 PT
..So..here's what's gonna happen
...the key to what's going on is this...." It would concentrate Internet traffic in several central locations where e-mail and other web activity could be wiretapped."
..Anyone wanna guess what happens after all internet traffic is channelled through,"several central locations"?.....I'll tell ya;,,,then AOL,Earthlink,and such,will own these several locations,,and then,just like all national media,the internet will be a corporate monoply,and it will become the same government media puppet that network TV is.......I'll bet you,,within 10 years,the internet will have been tamed by the Evil Empire....It is the ONE thing that stands as a "free press"....You will see more and more tall tales of cyber terror threats,,,designed to get the sheeple ready for the idea of an overall control of the internet..enjoy it while you can,because everything will be different soon...dddd
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Comment #7 posted by conesmoker on October 27, 2001 at 16:12:28 PT
Wiretapping the Internet
This is "big brother" watching over you all, prying into your life as far as possible. They have the nerve to blame it on their war against terror, but the Taliban do not use the internet, they actually have banned the internet in Afghanistan. So these terrorists are not going to be using the internet to get orders from Osama bin Laden or his Al-queda organisation. About all these measures will do is make the internet slower, less secure and more expensive.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on October 27, 2001 at 14:11:00 PT
Elfman_420
I'm not sure. I don't think we are censored by filters but I could be wrong. As long as we have free speech and post opposing articles I don't see why we would be hassled but I haven't ever been in a position to know because this new war is unique. If this gets much worse I don't know what will happen. Martial law would make many changes. I don't think we will go into full fledge martial law unless there is another major terrorist attack.
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Comment #5 posted by Elfman_420 on October 27, 2001 at 14:04:27 PT
If that actually happened..
What I said was pretty extreme, but if something like that did happen I would be on the first train to Canada. Is it hard for americans to get canadian citizenship?The other question is the rating system that AOL, Yahoo, and MSN(I believe) is going to start requiring for webpages. Every webpage is supposed have a content rating, but this webpage just has articles that can be found in any newspaper that would be rated "OK" for kids to view. So how would this page be rated?
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on October 27, 2001 at 13:44:01 PT
Elfman 420
It could happen and I hope it doesn't. We are living in very bad times. I'm glad I am not young. I don't envy young people at all. I feel really bad for them.
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Comment #3 posted by Elfman_420 on October 27, 2001 at 13:32:21 PT:
freedom??? hah!
Just wait until this very page is shut down for "Encouraging subversive activities and attempting to incite a popular revolt."
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Comment #2 posted by Lehder on October 27, 2001 at 13:27:00 PT
The New Dark Age
...the FBI has plans to change the architecture of the Internet and route traffic through central servers that it would be able to monitor e-mail more easily. It would concentrate Internet traffic in several central locations where e-mail and other web activity could be wiretapped.Communications by fax and telephone hastened the collapse of the Soviet Union. The government knows this, and, no longer representative of the people or even respectful of reality, has good reason to fear the Internet. The restructuring of the Internet, besides allowing eavesdroping, would allow the Internet to be shut OFF, though I'm sure this would be done only in the event of "a national emergency." In the future, only the Voice of Control will be permitted to propagate through the networks. We are entering a new Dark Age
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Comment #1 posted by lookinside on October 27, 2001 at 12:19:01 PT:
freedom???
the internet is our last bastion of freedom of thought...once it is gone, we are going to be fodder for the soylent green factories..       ENJOY!!!
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