Republicans want to monitor all emails, IMs, etc.

[fedupinBushcountry]

Originally posted at The Seminal.http://www.theseminal.com/2007/02/11/action-congress-wants-to-monitor-all-emails-ims-etc/

A bill introduced http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2174524/republican-bill-calls-emaillast week by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) is beginning to raise eyebrows.

would require ISPs to record all users' surfing activity, IM conversations and email traffic indefinitely.

The bill, dubbed the Safety Act by sponsor Lamar Smith, a republican congressman from Texas, would impose fines and a prison term of one year on ISPs which failed to keep full records. (emphasis mine)
This is a terrifying development and it must be stopped before it gains any significant momentum. Background, Action items and contact information below the fold.

more info : http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/2/12/8520/60718

[peace13]

1. Great, let start with their's

and after a ten year trial we can expand to the rest of the population!

[Gman]

3. They'll find a lot of anti-abortion terrorists

and white supremacy separatists if they start with the RW.

[Cabcere]

14. You mean

patriotic Americans who respect all life and have good old-fashioned 'Murcan values? :sarcasm: :puke:

[mainegreen]

2. There isn't enough storage space at most ISPs for this, though I'm sure seagate & maxtor would love

this!

Congress needs to all take a class on technology. They just don't get it.

[EVDebs]

11. Gee, does Ft. Gordon and Global Information Group Ltd. in Bahamas know this ?

You can save them a LOT of $ by preventing Carnivore or whatever they call it at NSA/FBI/your local Republian HQ.

Police are seriously compromised being mostly Republicans (as are the officer corp in the military) in this regard. They take orders Milgram-like being part of that unthinking 30% of the population ...

[Clark2008]

15. I sell technology training for the largest training center in the world

Hey Congress: COME ON DOWN.

:7

[WorseBeforeBetter]

4. Yeah, I want this twit reading my juicy IMs.

Where is all of this data going to be stored? In tubes? There's no way this could pass (famous last words...).

[fedupinBushcountry]

5. Here are the names of those sponsoring

Sponsor:
Rep. Lamar Smith, 202-225-4236

Cosponsors:
Rep. Steve Chabot, [phone]
Rep. Tom Feeney, [phone]
Rep. J. Randy Forbes, [phone]
Rep. Trent Franks, [phone]
Rep. Elton Gallegly, [phone]
Rep. Dan Lungren, [phone]
Rep. Mike Pence, [phone]

[MnFats]

7. thanks. these people are enemies of freedom.

and must face the searing light of public scrutiny.
this is just unbelievable.

one thinks of poor Edmund O'Brien, in the original "1984" film, speaking into the mirror/device in his little apartment, explaining his activities and chanting the official party slogans...

[Kixel]

20. And morons

Seriously, how useful is this information going to be? The amount of data that would need to be stored...it's just pointless. There's nothing wrong with the equivalent of (legal) wire taps, but this would be a whole lot of crap no one needs to know. It's a huge waste of resources that could be used for greater good.

Technology 101. You don't need to be a techy to know this is stupid.

[kineneb]

18. gack, Danny Lungren- red SoCal

far right nutcase, probably can't figure out how to use a computer...FU Danny!

[KingFlorez]

19. Elton Gallegly represents my district

Thankfully, he's retiring in 2008. I'm hoping a Democrat can win his seat.

[originalpckelly]

6. You know the only people who need to be monitored 24/7 are the people in Congress

and the people in the White House.

[wtmusic]

8. Fine

Two products everyone should be familiar with: Skype and PGP.

"A3478FJOW543IEJJODHJ5INH24O5885YKHB5LKK3Y459UYALHI2UEHRIQW3UFBIEHBUUE8"

(omg, did I say that?)

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Okay, here's the deal breaker:

If they spot evidence of prejudice or discrimination against two or more people, and they're planning to sabotage someone in the community or at work, will it be actionable?

If the answer is, yes, then I can guarantee the right-wing voter will be against it.

[EVDebs]

10. They already DO via their insider status in NSA and Ben H. Bell IIIrds company in Bahamas

Global Information Group Ltd.

Bahamas Firm Screens Personal Data To Assess Risk
Operation Avoids U.S. Privacy Rules

by Robert O'Harrow Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 16, 2004; Page A01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36853-2004Oct15.html

This is a TIA program offshored, outsourced, and privatized. If you honestly think that ChoicePoint hasn't already complied with Bell's et al wishes you are naive. BTW, Denver is the site of the Dem convention in '08 and lookie you has just set up shop there. The CIAs Domestic Operations unit !

""Now the choreographer of that program, a former intelligence official named Ben H. Bell III, is taking his ideas to a private company offshore, where he and his colleagues plan to use some of the same concepts, technology and contractors to assess people for risk, outside the reach of U.S. regulators, according to documents and interviews.""

Can I say REPUBLICAN colleagues ?

CIA Plans to Shift Work to Denver
Domestic Division Would Be Moved

by Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 6, 2005; Page A21

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/05/AR2005050501860.html

Check for 'bed' bugs in Denver, OK ?

[richabk]

12. Ok, I'll bite...

I agree whole heartedly that this would scare the shit out of me -- another step in our Big Brother society.

So I looked up the bill...HR 837
HR837

It's not as draconian as mentioned...here's the actual section of the bill:


SEC. 6. RECORD RETENTION REQUIREMENTS FOR INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS.

(a) Regulations- Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Attorney General shall issue regulations governing the retention of records by Internet Service Providers. Such regulations shall, at a minimum, require retention of records, such as the name and address of the subscriber or registered user to whom an Internet Protocol address, user identification or telephone number was assigned, in order to permit compliance with court orders that may require production of such information.


They just need my name, address, and phone number...I have to give that information when I sign up for anything.

If I missed something in the bill, please let me know...but this seems much ado about nothing.

[EVDebs]

13. AG, 'at a minimum' requirements...they alredy are doing this dude...

Is the NSA spying on U.S. Internet traffic?

Salon exclusive: Two former AT&T employees say the telecom giant has maintained a secret, highly secure room in St. Louis since 2002. Intelligence experts say it bears the earmarks of a National Security Agency operation.

by Kim Zetter

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/06/21/att_nsa/index_np.html

St. Louis, San Francisco

Whistle-Blower Outs NSA Spy Room
www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70619-0.html

Put your head back in the sand ?

TIA is a reality and this Congress needs to investigate those capabilities ASAP.

[Missy M]

16. Then if we already do that with ISP's why do they have to have this bill?

[itsmesgd]

17. If they'll just ask me I'd be glad to tell them what I'm up to.

AM check the Drudge Report, donate to the 700 club, two hours on freerepublic, then I turn off the computer to go watch CMT and the local late night news.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

21. Ahh... America. Nice to have known you.

"Yep -- he just said "I don't like Cheney"" "Move in on that traitor now!"

[HCE SuiGeneris]

22. I Just got hearted! Thank you my unknown benefactor.

:hug: :hi:

[cui bono]

23. McCain already introduced a bill like this in the senate.

:grr:

[skyblue]

26. Not a nice guy.

[pepperbear]

24. this is so bad even FR can't deal with it!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1783445/posts

[HCE SuiGeneris]

25. Holy shit... this sounds like a real dialog

You should repost this thread -- it's pretty powerful.

[Akoto]

27. I don't see this happening, for a few reasons.

Firstly, there's privacy. Users like having it, and ISPs like giving it to them. The latter doesn't particularly enjoy being an arm of the government.

On the subject of logs. ISPs log the activity of their users already. They know plenty about what you're doing. Thing is, they usually don't even bother to look because of privacy (as stated above) and resources. In fact, most ISPs dispose of their user logs within a very short period of time, if not immediately following their creation.

The amount of data generated by ISP logs is horrendously large. Imagine a few pages of text being sent to your hard drive on a daily basis. Not a big deal, right? Well, imagine a few billion pages of text being sent every day, all year long, and you can never delete any of it. This is the dilemma faced by ISPs who'd have to follow this law. The financial requirements to enforce the policies would be huge, and constant maintenance of so much data would be nearly impossible.

They'll have to hire a workforce just to comb through the info, because no program can help them avoid those jail time penalties with complete certainty. What's worse, that'll be a mind-numbing job because ninety-nine percent of users do absolutely nothing wrong ("normal" porn, a multi-billion dollar industry, does not count as a crime).

I'm all for stopping criminals and sickos exploiting the internet, but for reasons of logistics, this ain't the way to go about it. That's setting aside the terrible implications it has for privacy rights.

[Madrone]

28. CALEA

The groundwork for this is already being laid ... CALEA. I work for a small local ISP and we are being forced to implement this, it's been in the works for awhile. I would imagine most large ISPs already have the system in place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Assistance_for_Law_Enforcement_Act

[Venus Dog]

29. This is already going on

That somebody is making it public is the real news. Don't delude yourself.