U.S. gives big, secret push to Internet surveillance

Just saw this on cnet. Other media outlets haven't picked it up as of yet.

Justice Department agreed to issue "2511 letters" immunizing AT&T and other companies participating in a cybersecurity program from criminal prosecution under the Wiretap Act, according to new documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

"The Justice Department is helping private companies evade federal wiretap laws," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which obtained over 1,000 pages of internal government documents and provided them to CNET this week. "Alarm bells should be going off."

Because it overrides all federal and state privacy laws, including the Wiretap Act, legislation called CISPA would formally authorize the program without the government resorting to 2511 letters. In other words, if CISPA, which the U.S. House of Representatives approved last week, becomes law, any data-sharing program would be placed on a solid legal footing. AT&T, Verizon, and wireless and cable providers have all written letters endorsing CISPA.

en.wikipedia.org...
news.cnet.com...

The whole thing is ridiculous. Now you can't even hope for any legal recourse because it overrides federal and state privacy laws. Welcome to the biggest nanny state in the world.

Don't worry, if you want to communicate with someone else on the internet, with complete security, use:

ONE TIME PAD ENCRYPTION - one of the few encryption schemes proven to be Unbreakable, even if the adversary has Infinite computing power:

en.wikipedia.org...

BUT you have to make sure you use it correctly both in person and on computer:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Good Luck

reply to post by deloprator20000


I realize that there are encryption protocols and even ones that are impossible to break (saying this with authority because I went to school for computer engineering). How about people that are not smart enough or don't have the means to do anything about it? They just authorized a wire tap on anyone who uses electronic communication through or within the US. Everyone's civil liberties are being trampled here.

I will reserve judgement until I see the first case they try to prosecute using this new law. They say they'll use it to catch real criminals and terrorist but i bet they will try to hang the kid in his moms basement downloading copyrighted material.

This reminds me of this Lance Armstrong fiasco, we found out he lied and cheated and now the US governement continues to go out of its way to prosecute this guy in any shape or form possible. We aslo found out the bankers were lying and cheating I have yet to see this same fervor.

reply to post by MrStyx


Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act was defeated in the senate. This is just a "legalized" way around it. Some one in the administration thought this might be a good idea and now have found the correct loophole.

Like you said what this will be used for is getting some kid to take loans and pay up for downloading a song. Or for shvt* and giggles by some moron spying on people without a warrant.

The problem is that while it may be used for "terroristic" reasons or threats, the majority of the law is for domestic use. You can see how the drone program was rolled out and how it ultimately ended up to arrive at the same conclusion as I have.

You can also look to the Patriot Act and how it was sold and passed as a measure to defend Americans against radical foreign terrorist elements and is now used on a daily basis against the average person in every way possible. They blatant tyranny in this country that is on the fast track to complete authoritarianism is frightening.

Anyone who can not make the comparison between America and Nazi Germany didn't get a passing grade in history class.

Originally posted by an0nThinker
reply to post by MrStyx

 

Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act was defeated in the senate. This is just a "legalized" way around it. Some one in the administration thought this might be a good idea and now have found the correct loophole.

Like you said what this will be used for is getting some kid to take loans and pay up for downloading a song. Or for shvt* and giggles by some moron spying on people without a warrant.

cispa is about legalising the spying they already do,
and allowing private companies to connect your online and offline persona,

i imagine in a few years when you go for insurance, they will know more about you than you do,
that means higher costs and more profits.

xploder

reply to post by XPLodER


They just found a loophole around it. Without passing it they are doing most of the dirty work and just gave everyone a get out of jail free card.

We'll be discussing this topic on tonights ATS Live! Radio show. Join us!

Details here - www.abovetopsecret.com...