The PATRIOT Act is utterly & completely screwing this business owner (ISP)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

http://www.counterpunch.org/cassel05292004.html

The kicker is... it WILL leak. These things always do. You do business with an ISP owner who likes to talks about politics. All of a sudden, he becomes REAL quiet and looks scared all the time. D'oh.

The sad thing is, people will figure out who he is despite his best efforts, and the government WILL blame him. :mad:

"The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) yesterday released more information about the heavily censored legal challenge it is bringing against the government's use of a controversial provision of the USA PATRIOT Act that allows the FBI to obtain from businesses sensitive personal information about their clients. Among the documents unsealed today is a declaration by the ACLU's anonymous client in the case, the president and sole employee of an unnamed Internet Service Provider (ISP), referred to only as "John Doe." John Doe is prohibited by law from revealing his identity to the public, even as he confronts the federal government over the very section of the Patriot Act that forces him to remain anonymous.

(...)

Doe and the ACLU are asking the court to deem unconstitutional the government's use of National Security Letters (NSLs), which allow FBI agents to demand, with no judicial oversight, personal information about clients of Internet Service Providers.

(...)

"The government has now prohibited the disclosure of my name and my company's name in connection with the case," said Doe. "They have provided no further clarification about what I can and cannot say." He says that he has found it difficult to have normal conversations. "(I) used to discuss topics related to politics and current events, but now I feel wary when I communicate ... I have steered clear of numerous topics of conversation as I am afraid.... The gag has put me in a very compromising situation, as I do not want to be dishonest in my communications (words blacked out) but also do not want to violate the gag."

Romero said that not only is the gag order affecting how he and other staff at the ACLU can talk about the case, but it is having an impact on the broader activities of the organization, which has been actively engaged in educating and organizing against the Patriot Act since the law's inception in late 2001.

Edit: Fixed title: it's the PATRIOT Act doing the screwing, not a cheesy movie. Also, the use of square brackets in the original article was mungling the post.

[FreakinDJ]

1. Patriot Act II reads more like the Russian Gulag system

Allows for the secret arrest, trial and imprisonment of American citizens

Now what can be more Un-American then that

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. You mean, like

A mother would be punished if she said to her neighbor, "my son was arrested"? Everybody would have to pretend the person just went away?

[FreakinDJ]

4. EXACTLY

The Patriot Act II makes it a crime punishable by law to even discuss the arrest, conviction, and imprisonment.

Hence all the John Doe in the ACLU suit. They even had to ask permission to file the suit on his behalf because of all the security issues. But worst of all this applies to any person or group as deemed by Sec. Asscraft.

Any one he deems subversive

That is an awful lot of leeway

[uncle ray]

3. sounds like he WANTS to be identified!

The sad thing is, people will figure out who he is despite his best efforts, and the government WILL blame him"

it says in the article, that the gov't FORBIDS him from IDing himself! sounds like they want to make the fight public, but their hands are tied by having to remain anon. i think he would just as soon have people know who he is, for when he disappears.

[FreakinDJ]

5. Wouldn't you want to be identified

before you just "Disappear" from the face of the planet

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. Heck, I would. Here's what I'd do:

I'd find a friend overseas (me?) and set up some SECURE, ENCRYPTED connection between us. I'd only use that from random Internet Cafés. I'd dump ALL case data on him and regularly "ping" him with "I'm still here" messages. If the pings cease, the overseas person spills the beans with extreme prejudice.

[FreakinDJ]

7. Yes but then the American media can not report it

So who is going to know

It is a very dangerous law. Very Dangerous for Democracy

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. Screw the media. Samizdat it. Put it on everywhere.

Let them play whack-a-mole.