U.S. asks companies to record Web usage – Technology – International Herald Tribune — Another good way to see what political sites you visit. You know to see if you are with us or against us. Does anyone see a pattern here?
The Justice Department is asking Internet companies to keep records on the Web-surfing activities of their customers to aid law enforcement, and may propose legislation to force them to do so.
The director of the FBI, Robert Mueller 3rd, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales held a meeting May 26 in Washington, where they offered a general proposal on record-keeping to a group of senior executives from Internet companies, said Brian Roehrkasse, a spokesman for the Justice Department. The meeting included representatives from America Online, Microsoft, Google, Verizon and Comcast.
found by Alex Cohen
Nice Mark of the Beast pic … that is the effect you were driving at, yes?
What kind of list would a visit to Dvorak’s blog put me on? Cranky Geeks?
After occasionally looking at your own website, Howard — I’d say we’re all on the same list.
The executives spoke on the condition that they not be identified because they did not want to offend the Justice Department.
And what would happen if they did “offend” the Justice Department…?
An executive of one Internet provider that was represented at the first meeting said Gonzales began the discussion by showing slides of child pornography from the Internet.
If I tried doing that, I would be a convicted pedophile – and registered sex offender – so fast it would make my head spin!
Can the people who attended the meeting file a complaint about being forced – by the U.S. Attorney General – to view patently-offensive material?
Gotta luv anon sources…
For the record, I’m against ’em. I guess I’ll start closing the drapes during the day now.
what happened to a right to privacy i wonder how useless the collection of this junk data will be. just another way to sell storage space to companies to store junk data, just think of all the porn you can store on those disks filled with junk data…..
im a systems admin, i have enuf to do already fixing stupid microsoft boxes, i dont need to be watching web traffic too….
After all we’ve heard lately (mostly through leaks, not announcements), I hope no one is really surprised by this. The American public is beginning to succumb to “privacy fatigue,” where each new encroachment stings a little less than the last.
As much as I’ve heard about how bravely the troops in Iraq are fighting for our freedom, the fact remains that American freedoms are assaulted on a daily basis in Washington D.C. and state capitols across the country, but never have they been at risk in Iraq.
Yesterday was the official start of the hurricane season. Keep your eye on Hurricane Alberto (Gonzales).
Have any of these people read the constitution? Amendments? Anything?
…… I should add, it sounds like he’s wording this to stop right before the 4th is actually violated, but still, it’s way too close.
So… “freedom of the press” allows us to print anything we wish, but it will be illegal to actually read it ?
1.
its not Mark of the beast, its 1984..Big brother.
I STILL see no way to monitor Everyting that happens on the net..
The Data amount would be atrocious…
Past that, I can see NO reason for it. Freedom of speach, freedom to do what we will, without harm to others.
the only reason, I can see it being done.
Spying internally
Advertising
Thank God for Anonymizer.
How many lashes will I get for visiting Dvorak.org/blog when I appear before the Great Homeland Security Tribunal?
Who said John and us contributing editors aren’t really right wing government agents pretending to be lefty leaners? If 40 year old pedophiles can pretend to be 15 year old girls…. We could be recording every IP address for use in our very own Return to the 50’s — An Afternoon with Joe McCarthey Jr.
As Monty Python would have said, “Nobody expects the Bush Inquisition!”
Hey Howard go work on a WYSIWYG CSS editor
Geez, Dave don’t give it away!!!
I think this is already allowed for the police to subpoena such records.
Did ANY of the ISP’s have the guts to tell him to go to hell?
Or, (as is likely) did they all knuckle under?
Have any of these people read the constitution? Amendments? Anything?
Comment by plankton — 6/2/2006
You forget, this is the government that (reportedly) said, “it’s just a god-damned peice of paper”.
That said “I’m the president, I don’t HAVE to follow the law, I make the laws.”
That has repeatedly added onto signed bills (supposedly laws) anything they wanted to add AFTER any sort of over-sight or discussion was done….
And you’re surprised by this?!?
I am far, far more afraid of the US government at this point than I am of terrorists.
See, fact is, anyone with strange browsing habits (ie still on slashdot at 4 in the morning) is clearly a TERRORIST. Also, anyone who visits sites including, but not limited to communism, hacking, etc are also TERRORISTS. That’s why we should watch for these people, Come on, the us governemnt is going to hell in a handbasket
“…the department appears to be trying to determine whether Internet companies will voluntarily agree to keep certain information or if it will need to seek legislation to require them to do so.”–[FromTheArticle]
I’m trying to think of just the right words to ridicule this….
Can someone explain to me why end users cannot connect to the internet directly without the use of an ISP? It seems that the ISPs are part of the problem. Is there no way to get around them and become your own ISP?
Thanks to anyone that can enlighten me.
As I read the story the argument was about how long they would keep the records not whether they would keep them.
The meeting included representatives from America Online, Microsoft, Google, Verizon and Comcast.
With that list of corporations you really have to wonder who proposed what, to who, and who did it first. And never mind who’s on second.
recall that they said that ISP’s not retaining these records “hampered” the prosecution of child pornography cases. not PREVENTED them.
again, lazy, lazy cops would rather violate everyone’s privacy than do the hard work of law enforcement.
It’s all about retention time of traffic logs. And I will bet that the recording and movie industries are as much in play here as any anti-terror concerns. Nice little revenue stream sitting there with USNet for example. Why sell when you can sue?
Let’s hope the ISPs will give the same response Qwest did on the phone logging.
#29 It’s all about retention time of traffic logs
And I like the contrast between that, and Corporate America’s post-Enron embrace of deleting any files & emails after 90-days…
From the article: In its current proposal, the department appears to be trying to determine whether Internet companies will voluntarily agree to keep certain information or if it will need to seek legislation to require them to do so
How much will it cost these companies to increase storage capacity from a month’s worth to 2-years worth??
Since any cost will be passed on to us customers, how much would such an “unfunded mandate” cost us???
All those Republican Congressmen must be pooping in their pants over this. It was bad enough when the Republican Government started tapping only terrorists phones, then only who called what number. Now, the Republican Government is asking to know where everyone went on-line. This won’t effect only child porn perverts, but all those upstanding middle class married men viewing straight porn (where all the models ARE 18), those going to off shore gambling sites, those neo-cons that read the Washington Post or NY Times, and those who frequent chat rooms. This would effect almost every voting adult.
The Democrats don’t need a platform with these buffoons screwing up everything.