FBI wiretap Internet

[soiarrai]

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/05/reminder_monday.html

 

Today is the official deadline for compliance with the FCC's new interpretation of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act(CALEA).

 

Cable modem companies, DSL providers, broadband over powerline, satellite internet companies and even some universities all have until the end of today to ensure "...the ability of law enforcement agencies to conduct electronic surveillance by requiring that telecommunications carriers and manufacturers of telecommunications equipment modify and design their equipment, facilities, and services to ensure that they have the necessary surveillance capabilities."

 

 

The Justice Department began lobbying the FCC in 2002 to reinterpret the law as applying to the internet as well and last June a divided federal appeals court upheld the expansion 2-1.

 

 

Basically, this means that starting today the FBI will have the ability to wiretap your internet connection, and means that "Common carriers, facilities-based broadband Internet access providers, and providers of interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service..." must all now have incorporated into their networks the ability for law enforcement agencies to snoop on those for which they have a court ordered warrant.

 

It's been pointed out however, that even though it may not necessarily be easier to get a warrant and eavesdrop on somebody, the temptation to do so and avoid real gumshoe detective work will be high. Instead of having to really investigate what a person is up to, they may choose to just try and take a look at what they're doing instead.

 

 

Also, what will eventually happen I think is that the RIAA and the MPAA will try to petition courts to snoop on suspected file-sharers and gather intelligence and incriminating information with which to build a case against them.

 

 

I mean look how they were able to get so many congressman on board with the whole crackdown on colleges and universities, invoking phrases like "file-trafficking" and warning against job layoffs and unemployment due to losses from piracy. I mean if a law is being broken who's to say which ones they will or will not enforce? I think its only a matter of time.

 

 

 

No longer will ISPs be able to claim that it just doesn't have the means to assist copyright holders in determining who has been uploading content illegally, for now they will be able to monitor an IP address and all the traffic that it's responsible for on the network.

 

 

It also means that the govt will now have the ability to monitor for other illegal activity, like buying prescription drugs from Canada, browsing and purchasing drug paraphanalia like bongs, pipes, etc., or perhaps even forums or chatrooms of leftist or other radical organizations.

 

 

After today the internet will forever be under the watchful eye of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and you can rest assured that corporations and other private entities will do in everything in their power to use this resource for their own ends.

 

 

Reminder: Monday is Wiretap the Internet Day

May 14th is the official deadline for cable modem companies, DSL providers, broadband over powerline, satellite internet companies and some universities to finish wiring up their networks with FBI-friendly surveillance gear, to comply with the FCC's expanded interpretation of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act.

 

Congress passed CALEA in 1994 to help FBI eavesdroppers deal with digital telecom technology. The law required phone companies to make their networks easier to wiretap. The results: on mobile phone networks, where CALEA tech has 100% penetration, it's credited with boosting the number of court-approved wiretaps a carrier can handle simultaneously, and greatly shortening the time it takes to get a wiretap going. Cops can now start listening in less than a day.

 

Now that speed and efficiency is coming to internet surveillance. While CALEA is all about phones, the Justice Department began lobbying the FCC in 2002 to reinterpret the law as applying to the internet as well. The commission obliged, and last June a divided federal appeals court upheld the expansion 2-1. (The dissenting judge called the FCC's position "gobbledygook." But he was outnumbered.)

 

So, if you're a broadband provider (separately, some VOIP companies are covered too) â?¦ Hurry! The deadline has already passed to file an FCC form 445 (.pdf), certifying that you're on schedule, or explaining why you're not. You can also find the 68-page official industry spec for internet surveillance here. It'll cost you $164.00 to download, but then you'll know exactly what format to use when delivering customer packets to federal or local law enforcement, including "e-mail, instant messaging records, web-browsing information and other information sent or received through a user's broadband connection, including on-line banking activity."

 

There are also third party brokers who will handle all this for you for a fee.

 

It's worth noting that the new requirements don't alter the legal standards for law enforcement to win court orders for internet wiretaps. Fans of CALEA expansion argue that it therefore won't increase the number of Americans under surveillance.

 

That's wrong, of course. Making surveillance easier and faster gives law enforcement agencies of all stripes more reason to eschew old-fashioned police work in favor of spying. The telephone CALEA compliance deadline was in 2002, and since then the amount of court-ordered surveillance has nearly doubled from 2,586 applications granted that year, to 4,015 orders in 2006.

[Bangkoktraveler]

The latest rumor is that everybody will have to go down to their local Federal building and shit in a brown paper bag. That is probably why I feel like shit in a bag today.