<font face="verdana" size="4" color="#333333">
Wake up peeps, ‘soft fascism’ is already in effect. The RepubliKlan are attempting to close the gates & turn soft fascism into the police state fascism you thought couldn’t happen in America</font>
<hr noshade color="#0000FF" SIZE="12"></hr>
<font face="arial black" size="6" color="#d90000">
The Real Assault On America</font>
<font face="georgia" size="3" color="#000000">
<b>by Paul Craig Roberts
May 15th 2006 </b>
http://www.vdare.com/roberts/060515_assault.htm<br>
The neoconservative Bush regime has adroitly used 9/11 to create fear of terrorism among Americans that blinds Americans to the Bush regime’s assault on our constitutional system. Americans have meekly acquiesced to the Bush regime’s brutal assaults on civil liberties, human rights, the separation of powers, and statutory law, because Americans have been brainwashed to believe that the <strong>“war on terror” </strong>takes precedence and cannot be waged under the rules established by the Founding Fathers.
<br>By elevating its <strong>“war on terror” </strong>above the US Constitution, the neoconservative Bush regime has made itself a far greater threat to Americans than are foreign terrorists. Two constitutional scholars, <a href="http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1130">Timothy Lynch</a> and <a href="http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1248">Gene Healy,</a> document the Bush regime’s forceful assault on the US Constitution in “<em><a href="http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6330">Power Surge: The Constitutional Record of George W. Bush</a></em>” released May 3 by the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. (available at).
<br>Lynch and Healy show that Bush has failed in his most important responsibility <strong>“to preserve, protect and defend”</strong> the Constitution and, thus, is in violation of his sworn oath of office. The two scholars document the Bush regime’s <strong>“ceaseless push for power, unchecked by either the Courts or Congress”</strong> on issues ranging from war powers, habeas corpus, and federalism to free speech and unwarranted surveillance. Bush’s assault on the Constitution “should disturb people from across the political spectrum.”
<br>Alas, it doesn’t. Many Americans believe that Bush’s dictatorial powers will only be applied to terrorists. This belief is extremely foolish, because it means that <strong>“the liberty of every American rests on nothing more than the grace of the White House.” </strong>
<br>It has become commonplace to hear Americans dismiss the Bush regime’s illegal and unconstitutional exercise of power on the grounds that only those implicated in terrorism have anything to fear. These Americans need to ask themselves why, if only evildoers have anything to fear from government, the Founding Fathers bothered to write the Constitution?
<br>If we can trust the government the way Americans seem prepared to trust the Bush regime, we don’t need the Constitution. Indeed, why is a president inaugurated with his oath to defend the Constitution if we don’t need the Constitution to protect us from our government? If we can trust government, why go to all the trouble to have elections? Why not just get a dictator or a king or contract with a company to provide government?
<br>The question presents itself: Are Americans guilty of treason when they turn their backs on the Constitution? Treason is betrayal of country. And what defines country? In the United States the Constitution defines country. The Bush regime’s assault on the Constitution is an assault on America.
<br>Moreover, it is a far more dangerous and deadly assault than a terrorist assault on buildings.
<br>Ask yourself, gentle reader, what are we without the Constitution? Without the Constitution, how do we differ from the hapless subjects sent to Soviet and Nazi death camps? The Constitution protects our rights, and without our rights we are nothing.
<br><b>
<span style="background-color: #FFFF51">It has been widely reported, apparently without causing Americans any unease, that the Bush regime has <a href="http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/47/17936">awarded Halliburton $385 million</a> to build concentration camps in the United States. Who are to be the inmates? Certainly not terrorists. The Bush regime has proven inept at catching terrorists, and those few who are captured are kept offshore out of the reach of the courts where they can be tortured and abused. The camps are certainly not for illegal aliens who both political parties want to give amnesty and citizenship. </b></span>
<br>Concentration camps epitomize the horrors and inhumanity of the Stalin and Nazi era. Why is the Bush regime building concentration camps in America?
<br>The Bush regime’s war on terror is the equivalent to the Nazi regime’s Reichstag fire. It serves to blind people to the real assault.
<br>According to Bush, America is under terrorist attack because “they hate our freedoms.” But, as Lynch and Healy show, it is the Bush regime that is attacking our freedoms, removing their institutional protections, and making our liberties subject to the grace of the executive.
<br><em>Paul Craig Roberts</em> [paulcraigroberts@yahoo.com] <em>was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration. </font>
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<img src="http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/ne/gr/news_logo.gif">
<font face="arial black" size="5" color=#D90000">
Congress May Make ISPs Snoop On You</font>
<font face="Georgia" size="3" color="#000000">
<b>By Declan McCullagh</b>
<a href="http://news.com.com/Congress+may+make+ISPs+snoop+on+you/2100-1028_3-6072601.html">http://news.com.com/Congress+may+make+ISPs+snoop+on+you/2100-1028_3-6072601.html</a>
Story last modified Tue May 16 06:26:43 PDT 2006</font>
<font face="tahoma" size="4" color="#0000ff"><b>A prominent Republican on Capitol Hill has prepared legislation that would rewrite Internet privacy rules by requiring that logs of Americans' online activities be stored, CNET News.com has learned.</b></font>
<font face="Georgia" size="3" color="#000000">
<br>The proposal comes just weeks after Attorney General Alberto Gonzales <a title="U.S. attorney general calls for 'reasonable' data retention -- Thursday, Apr 20, 2006" href="/U.S.+attorney+general+calls+for+reasonable+data+retention/2100-1030_3-6063185.html?tag=nl">said Internet service providers should retain records</a> of user activities for a "reasonable amount of time," a move that represented a dramatic shift in the Bush administration's views on privacy.
<br>Wisconsin Rep. <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.house.gov%2Fsensenbrenner%2F&siteId=3&oId=/U.S.+attorney+general+calls+for+reasonable+data+retention/2100-1030_3-6063185.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">F. James Sensenbrenner</a>, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is proposing that ISPs be required to <a title="Your ISP as Net watchdog -- Thursday, Jun 16, 2005" href="/Your+ISP+as+Net+watchdog/2100-1028_3-5748649.html?tag=nl">record information about Americans' online activities</a> so that police can more easily "conduct criminal investigations." Executives at companies that fail to comply would be fined and imprisoned for up to one year.
<br>In addition, Sensenbrenner's legislation--expected to be announced as early as this week--also would create a federal felony targeted at bloggers, search engines, e-mail service providers and many other Web sites. It's aimed at any site that might have "reason to believe" it facilitates access to child pornography--through hyperlinks or a discussion forum, for instance.
<br><a title="U.S. attorney general calls for 'reasonable' data retention -- Thursday, Apr 20, 2006" href="/U.S.+attorney+general+calls+for+reasonable+data+retention/2100-1030_3-6063185.html?tag=nl">Speaking to</a> the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children last month, Gonzales warned of the dangers of pedophiles using the Internet anonymously and called for new laws from Congress. "At the most basic level, the Internet is used as a tool for sending and receiving large amounts of child pornography on a relatively anonymous basis," <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usdoj.gov%2Fag%2Fspeeches%2F2006%2Fag_speech_060420.html&siteId=3&oId=/U.S.+attorney+general+calls+for+reasonable+data+retention/2100-1030_3-6063185.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">Gonzales said</a>.
<br>Until Gonzales' speech, the Bush administration had explicitly opposed laws requiring data retention, saying it had "serious reservations" (<a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usdoj.gov%2Fcriminal%2Fcybercrime%2Fintl%2FUSComments_CyberCom_final.pdf&siteId=3&oId=/U.S.+attorney+general+calls+for+reasonable+data+retention/2100-1030_3-6063185.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">click here for PDF</a>) about them. But after the European Parliament last December <a title="Europe passes tough new data retention laws -- Wednesday, Dec 14, 2005" href="/Europe+passes+tough+new+data+retention+laws/2100-7350_3-5995089.html?tag=nl">approved such a requirement</a> for Internet, telephone and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers, top administration officials began <a title="ISP snooping gaining support -- Friday, Apr 14, 2006" href="/ISP+snooping+gaining+support/2100-1028_3-6061187.html?tag=nl">talking about it more favorably</a>.
<br>The drafting of the data-retention proposal comes as Republicans are trying to do more to please their conservative supporters before the November election. One <a title="Congress targets social network sites -- Wednesday, May 10, 2006" href="/Congress+targets+social+network+sites/2100-1028_3-6071040.html?tag=nl">bill announced last week</a> targets MySpace.com and other social networking sites. At a meeting last weekend, social conservatives called on the Bush administration to step up action against pornography, according to a <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2006%2F05%2F15%2Fwashington%2F15dobson.html&siteId=3&oId=/Congress+targets+social+network+sites/2100-1028_3-6071040.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">New York Times report</a>.
<br>Sensenbrenner's proposal is likely to be controversial. It would substantially alter U.S. laws dealing with privacy protection of Americans' Web surfing habits and is sure to alarm Internet businesses that could be at risk for linking to illicit Web sites.
<br>A spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee said the aide who drafted the legislation was not immediately available for an interview on Monday.
<br>U.S. Justice Department spokesman Drew Wade said the agency generally doesn't comment on legislation, though it may "issue a letter of opinion" at a later date.
<br>Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epic.org%2F&siteId=3&oId=/Congress+targets+social+network+sites/2100-1028_3-6071040.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">Electronic Privacy Information Center</a> in Washington, called Sensenbrenner's measure an "open-ended obligation to collect information about all customers for all purposes. It opens the door to government fishing expeditions and unbounded data mining."
<br>The National Security Agency has engaged in extensive data-mining about Americans' phone calling habits, USA Today <a title="FAQ: NSA's data mining explained -- Friday, May 12, 2006" href="/FAQ+NSAs+data+mining+explained/2100-1028_3-6071780.html?tag=nl">reported last week</a>, a revelation that could complicate Republicans' efforts to enact laws relating to mandatory data retention and data mining. Sen. John Sununu, a New Hampshire Republican, for instance, <a title="GOP skepticism over NSA program widens -- Monday, May 15, 2006" href="/GOP+skepticism+over+NSA+program+widens/2100-1028_3-6072440.html?tag=nl">took a swipe</a> at the program on Monday, and Democrats have been <a title="Anger grows over NSA surveillance report -- Thursday, May 11, 2006" href="/Anger+grows+over+NSA+surveillance+report/2100-1028_3-6071525.html?tag=nl">calling for a formal investigation</a>.
<br><strong>Worries for Internet providers</strong>
One unusual aspect of Sensenbrenner's legislation--called the Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Today's Youth Act--or Internet Safety Act--is that it's relatively vague.
<br>Instead of describing exactly what information Internet providers would be required to retain about their users, the Internet Safety Act gives the attorney general broad discretion in drafting regulations. At minimum, the proposal says, user names, physical addresses, Internet Protocol addresses and subscribers' phone numbers must be retained.
<br>That generous wording could permit Gonzales to order Internet providers to retain records of e-mail correspondents, Web pages visited, and even the contents of communications.
<br>"In the absence of clear privacy safeguards, Congress would be wise to remove this provision," Rotenberg said.
<br><a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pacificresearch.org%2Fabout%2Fteam.html&siteId=3&oId=/Anger+grows+over+NSA+surveillance+report/2100-1028_3-6071525.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">Sonia Arrison</a>, director of technology studies at the free-market Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco, said the Internet Safety Act "follows in a long line of bad laws that are written in the name of protecting children."
<br>Complicating the outlook for the Internet Safety Act is the uncertain political terrain of Capitol Hill. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, <a title="Congress may consider mandatory ISP snooping -- Friday, Apr 28, 2006" href="/Congress+may+consider+mandatory+ISP+snooping/2100-1028_3-6066608.html?tag=nl">announced legislation</a> (<a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fenergycommerce.house.gov%2F108%2FMarkups%2F04262006%2Fdegette_001_XML.PDF&siteId=3&oId=/Congress+may+consider+mandatory+ISP+snooping/2100-1028_3-6066608.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">click for PDF</a>) last month--which could be appended to a telecommunications bill--that would require Internet providers to store records that would permit police to identify each user.
<br>The head of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, has <a title="Republican politico endorses data retention -- Friday, May 5, 2006" href="/Republican+politico+endorses+data+retention/2100-1028_3-6069210.html?tag=nl">expressed support</a> for DeGette's plan. That could lead to a renewal of a turf battle between the two committees, one of which has jurisdiction over Internet providers, while the other is responsible for federal criminal law.
<br>"We're still evaluating things," said Terry Lane, a spokesman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "We haven't really laid out exactly yet what kind of proposals we would support and what kind of proposals would be necessary."
<h3>New Internet felonies proposed</h3>
<br><strong>Following are excerpts from Rep. Sensenbrenner's Internet Safety Act:</strong>
<br>"Whoever, being an Internet content hosting provider or email service provider, knowingly engages in any conduct the provider knows or has reason to believe facilitates access to, or the possession of, child pornography shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
<br>"'Internet content hosting provider' means a service that (A) stores, through electromagnetic or other means, electronic data, including the content of web pages, electronic mail, documents, images, audio and video files, online discussion boards, and weblogs; and (B) makes such data available via the Internet"
<br>"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 (and what) user identification or telephone number was assigned..."
<br>Federal politicians also are being lobbied by state law enforcement agencies, which say strict data retention laws will help them investigate crimes that have taken place a while ago.
<br>Sgt. Frank Kardasz, head of Arizona's <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.azicac.org%2F&siteId=3&oId=/Republican+politico+endorses+data+retention/2100-1028_3-6069210.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force</a>, surveyed his colleagues in other states earlier this year asking them what new law would help them do their jobs. "The most frequent response involved data retention by Internet service providers," or ISPs, Kardasz told News.com last month.
<br><strong>"Preservation" vs. "Retention"</strong>
At the moment, ISPs typically discard any log file that's no longer required for business reasons such as network monitoring, fraud prevention or billing disputes. Companies do, however, alter that general rule when contacted by police performing an investigation--a practice called data preservation.
<br>A 1996 <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usdoj.gov%2Fcriminal%2Fcybercrime%2F2703_CSEA.htm&siteId=3&oId=/Republican+politico+endorses+data+retention/2100-1028_3-6069210.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">federal law</a> called the Electronic Communication Transactional Records Act regulates data preservation. It <a title="My (brief) career as an ISP -- Friday, Oct 10, 2003" href="/My+brief+career+as+an+ISP/2010-7355_3-5089267.html?tag=nl">requires Internet providers to retain</a> any "record" in their possession for 90 days "upon the request of a governmental entity."
<br>Because Internet addresses remain a relatively scarce commodity, ISPs tend to allocate them to customers from a pool based on whether a computer is in use at the time. (Two standard techniques used are the <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FDynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol&siteId=3&oId=/My+brief+career+as+an+ISP/2010-7355_3-5089267.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol</a> and <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FPoint-to-Point_Protocol_over_Ethernet&siteId=3&oId=/My+brief+career+as+an+ISP/2010-7355_3-5089267.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet</a>.)
<br>In addition, ISPs are <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.law.cornell.edu%2Fuscode%2Fhtml%2Fuscode42%2Fusc_sec_42_00013032----000-.html&siteId=3&oId=/My+brief+career+as+an+ISP/2010-7355_3-5089267.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">required by another federal law</a> to report child pornography sightings to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which is in turn charged with forwarding that report to the appropriate police agency.
<br>When adopting its data retention rules, the European Parliament approved <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.europarl.eu.int%2Fomk%2Fsipade3%3FL%3DEN%26OBJID%3D105467%26LEVEL%3D5%26MODE%3DSIP%26NAV%3DX%26LSTDOC%3DN&siteId=3&oId=/My+brief+career+as+an+ISP/2010-7355_3-5089267.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">U.K.-backed requirements</a> saying that communications providers in its 25 member countries--several of which had enacted their own data retention laws already--must retain customer data for a minimum of six months and a maximum of two years.
<br>The Europe-wide requirement applies to a wide variety of "traffic" and "location" data, including the identities of the customers' correspondents; the date, time and duration of phone calls, voice over Internet Protocol calls, or e-mail messages; and the location of the device used for the communications. But the "content" of the communications is not supposed to be retained. The rules are expected to take effect in 2008.
<br>According to a memo accompanying the proposed rules (<a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Feuropa.eu.int%2Feur-lex%2Flex%2FLexUriServ%2FLexUriServ.do%3Furi%3DCOM%3A2005%3A0438%3AFIN%3AEN%3APDF&siteId=3&oId=/My+brief+career+as+an+ISP/2010-7355_3-5089267.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">click here for PDF</a>), European politicians approved the rules because not all operators of Internet and communications services were storing information about citizens' activities to the extent necessary for law enforcement and national security.
<br>In addition to mandating data retention for ISPs and liability for Web site operators, Sensenbrenner's Internet Safety Act also would:
<br>• Make it a crime for financial institutions to "facilitate access" to child pornography, for instance by processing credit card payments.
<br>• Increase penalties for registered sex offenders who commit another felony involving a child.
<br>• Create an Office on Sexual Violence and Crimes against Children inside the Justice Department.
<br><em>CNET News.com's Anne Broache contributed to this report.</em>
</font>
</div>
Wake up peeps, ‘soft fascism’ is already in effect. The RepubliKlan are attempting to close the gates & turn soft fascism into the police state fascism you thought couldn’t happen in America</font>
<hr noshade color="#0000FF" SIZE="12"></hr>
<font face="arial black" size="6" color="#d90000">
The Real Assault On America</font>
<font face="georgia" size="3" color="#000000">
<b>by Paul Craig Roberts
May 15th 2006 </b>
http://www.vdare.com/roberts/060515_assault.htm<br>
The neoconservative Bush regime has adroitly used 9/11 to create fear of terrorism among Americans that blinds Americans to the Bush regime’s assault on our constitutional system. Americans have meekly acquiesced to the Bush regime’s brutal assaults on civil liberties, human rights, the separation of powers, and statutory law, because Americans have been brainwashed to believe that the <strong>“war on terror” </strong>takes precedence and cannot be waged under the rules established by the Founding Fathers.
<br>By elevating its <strong>“war on terror” </strong>above the US Constitution, the neoconservative Bush regime has made itself a far greater threat to Americans than are foreign terrorists. Two constitutional scholars, <a href="http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1130">Timothy Lynch</a> and <a href="http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1248">Gene Healy,</a> document the Bush regime’s forceful assault on the US Constitution in “<em><a href="http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6330">Power Surge: The Constitutional Record of George W. Bush</a></em>” released May 3 by the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. (available at).
<br>Lynch and Healy show that Bush has failed in his most important responsibility <strong>“to preserve, protect and defend”</strong> the Constitution and, thus, is in violation of his sworn oath of office. The two scholars document the Bush regime’s <strong>“ceaseless push for power, unchecked by either the Courts or Congress”</strong> on issues ranging from war powers, habeas corpus, and federalism to free speech and unwarranted surveillance. Bush’s assault on the Constitution “should disturb people from across the political spectrum.”
<br>Alas, it doesn’t. Many Americans believe that Bush’s dictatorial powers will only be applied to terrorists. This belief is extremely foolish, because it means that <strong>“the liberty of every American rests on nothing more than the grace of the White House.” </strong>
<br>It has become commonplace to hear Americans dismiss the Bush regime’s illegal and unconstitutional exercise of power on the grounds that only those implicated in terrorism have anything to fear. These Americans need to ask themselves why, if only evildoers have anything to fear from government, the Founding Fathers bothered to write the Constitution?
<br>If we can trust the government the way Americans seem prepared to trust the Bush regime, we don’t need the Constitution. Indeed, why is a president inaugurated with his oath to defend the Constitution if we don’t need the Constitution to protect us from our government? If we can trust government, why go to all the trouble to have elections? Why not just get a dictator or a king or contract with a company to provide government?
<br>The question presents itself: Are Americans guilty of treason when they turn their backs on the Constitution? Treason is betrayal of country. And what defines country? In the United States the Constitution defines country. The Bush regime’s assault on the Constitution is an assault on America.
<br>Moreover, it is a far more dangerous and deadly assault than a terrorist assault on buildings.
<br>Ask yourself, gentle reader, what are we without the Constitution? Without the Constitution, how do we differ from the hapless subjects sent to Soviet and Nazi death camps? The Constitution protects our rights, and without our rights we are nothing.
<br><b>
<span style="background-color: #FFFF51">It has been widely reported, apparently without causing Americans any unease, that the Bush regime has <a href="http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/47/17936">awarded Halliburton $385 million</a> to build concentration camps in the United States. Who are to be the inmates? Certainly not terrorists. The Bush regime has proven inept at catching terrorists, and those few who are captured are kept offshore out of the reach of the courts where they can be tortured and abused. The camps are certainly not for illegal aliens who both political parties want to give amnesty and citizenship. </b></span>
<br>Concentration camps epitomize the horrors and inhumanity of the Stalin and Nazi era. Why is the Bush regime building concentration camps in America?
<br>The Bush regime’s war on terror is the equivalent to the Nazi regime’s Reichstag fire. It serves to blind people to the real assault.
<br>According to Bush, America is under terrorist attack because “they hate our freedoms.” But, as Lynch and Healy show, it is the Bush regime that is attacking our freedoms, removing their institutional protections, and making our liberties subject to the grace of the executive.
<br><em>Paul Craig Roberts</em> [paulcraigroberts@yahoo.com] <em>was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration. </font>
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<img src="http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/ne/gr/news_logo.gif">
<font face="arial black" size="5" color=#D90000">
Congress May Make ISPs Snoop On You</font>
<font face="Georgia" size="3" color="#000000">
<b>By Declan McCullagh</b>
<a href="http://news.com.com/Congress+may+make+ISPs+snoop+on+you/2100-1028_3-6072601.html">http://news.com.com/Congress+may+make+ISPs+snoop+on+you/2100-1028_3-6072601.html</a>
Story last modified Tue May 16 06:26:43 PDT 2006</font>
<font face="tahoma" size="4" color="#0000ff"><b>A prominent Republican on Capitol Hill has prepared legislation that would rewrite Internet privacy rules by requiring that logs of Americans' online activities be stored, CNET News.com has learned.</b></font>
<font face="Georgia" size="3" color="#000000">
<br>The proposal comes just weeks after Attorney General Alberto Gonzales <a title="U.S. attorney general calls for 'reasonable' data retention -- Thursday, Apr 20, 2006" href="/U.S.+attorney+general+calls+for+reasonable+data+retention/2100-1030_3-6063185.html?tag=nl">said Internet service providers should retain records</a> of user activities for a "reasonable amount of time," a move that represented a dramatic shift in the Bush administration's views on privacy.
<br>Wisconsin Rep. <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.house.gov%2Fsensenbrenner%2F&siteId=3&oId=/U.S.+attorney+general+calls+for+reasonable+data+retention/2100-1030_3-6063185.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">F. James Sensenbrenner</a>, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is proposing that ISPs be required to <a title="Your ISP as Net watchdog -- Thursday, Jun 16, 2005" href="/Your+ISP+as+Net+watchdog/2100-1028_3-5748649.html?tag=nl">record information about Americans' online activities</a> so that police can more easily "conduct criminal investigations." Executives at companies that fail to comply would be fined and imprisoned for up to one year.
<br>In addition, Sensenbrenner's legislation--expected to be announced as early as this week--also would create a federal felony targeted at bloggers, search engines, e-mail service providers and many other Web sites. It's aimed at any site that might have "reason to believe" it facilitates access to child pornography--through hyperlinks or a discussion forum, for instance.
<br><a title="U.S. attorney general calls for 'reasonable' data retention -- Thursday, Apr 20, 2006" href="/U.S.+attorney+general+calls+for+reasonable+data+retention/2100-1030_3-6063185.html?tag=nl">Speaking to</a> the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children last month, Gonzales warned of the dangers of pedophiles using the Internet anonymously and called for new laws from Congress. "At the most basic level, the Internet is used as a tool for sending and receiving large amounts of child pornography on a relatively anonymous basis," <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usdoj.gov%2Fag%2Fspeeches%2F2006%2Fag_speech_060420.html&siteId=3&oId=/U.S.+attorney+general+calls+for+reasonable+data+retention/2100-1030_3-6063185.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">Gonzales said</a>.
<br>Until Gonzales' speech, the Bush administration had explicitly opposed laws requiring data retention, saying it had "serious reservations" (<a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usdoj.gov%2Fcriminal%2Fcybercrime%2Fintl%2FUSComments_CyberCom_final.pdf&siteId=3&oId=/U.S.+attorney+general+calls+for+reasonable+data+retention/2100-1030_3-6063185.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">click here for PDF</a>) about them. But after the European Parliament last December <a title="Europe passes tough new data retention laws -- Wednesday, Dec 14, 2005" href="/Europe+passes+tough+new+data+retention+laws/2100-7350_3-5995089.html?tag=nl">approved such a requirement</a> for Internet, telephone and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers, top administration officials began <a title="ISP snooping gaining support -- Friday, Apr 14, 2006" href="/ISP+snooping+gaining+support/2100-1028_3-6061187.html?tag=nl">talking about it more favorably</a>.
<br>The drafting of the data-retention proposal comes as Republicans are trying to do more to please their conservative supporters before the November election. One <a title="Congress targets social network sites -- Wednesday, May 10, 2006" href="/Congress+targets+social+network+sites/2100-1028_3-6071040.html?tag=nl">bill announced last week</a> targets MySpace.com and other social networking sites. At a meeting last weekend, social conservatives called on the Bush administration to step up action against pornography, according to a <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2006%2F05%2F15%2Fwashington%2F15dobson.html&siteId=3&oId=/Congress+targets+social+network+sites/2100-1028_3-6071040.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">New York Times report</a>.
<br>Sensenbrenner's proposal is likely to be controversial. It would substantially alter U.S. laws dealing with privacy protection of Americans' Web surfing habits and is sure to alarm Internet businesses that could be at risk for linking to illicit Web sites.
<br>A spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee said the aide who drafted the legislation was not immediately available for an interview on Monday.
<br>U.S. Justice Department spokesman Drew Wade said the agency generally doesn't comment on legislation, though it may "issue a letter of opinion" at a later date.
<br>Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epic.org%2F&siteId=3&oId=/Congress+targets+social+network+sites/2100-1028_3-6071040.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">Electronic Privacy Information Center</a> in Washington, called Sensenbrenner's measure an "open-ended obligation to collect information about all customers for all purposes. It opens the door to government fishing expeditions and unbounded data mining."
<br>The National Security Agency has engaged in extensive data-mining about Americans' phone calling habits, USA Today <a title="FAQ: NSA's data mining explained -- Friday, May 12, 2006" href="/FAQ+NSAs+data+mining+explained/2100-1028_3-6071780.html?tag=nl">reported last week</a>, a revelation that could complicate Republicans' efforts to enact laws relating to mandatory data retention and data mining. Sen. John Sununu, a New Hampshire Republican, for instance, <a title="GOP skepticism over NSA program widens -- Monday, May 15, 2006" href="/GOP+skepticism+over+NSA+program+widens/2100-1028_3-6072440.html?tag=nl">took a swipe</a> at the program on Monday, and Democrats have been <a title="Anger grows over NSA surveillance report -- Thursday, May 11, 2006" href="/Anger+grows+over+NSA+surveillance+report/2100-1028_3-6071525.html?tag=nl">calling for a formal investigation</a>.
<br><strong>Worries for Internet providers</strong>
One unusual aspect of Sensenbrenner's legislation--called the Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Today's Youth Act--or Internet Safety Act--is that it's relatively vague.
<br>Instead of describing exactly what information Internet providers would be required to retain about their users, the Internet Safety Act gives the attorney general broad discretion in drafting regulations. At minimum, the proposal says, user names, physical addresses, Internet Protocol addresses and subscribers' phone numbers must be retained.
<br>That generous wording could permit Gonzales to order Internet providers to retain records of e-mail correspondents, Web pages visited, and even the contents of communications.
<br>"In the absence of clear privacy safeguards, Congress would be wise to remove this provision," Rotenberg said.
<br><a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pacificresearch.org%2Fabout%2Fteam.html&siteId=3&oId=/Anger+grows+over+NSA+surveillance+report/2100-1028_3-6071525.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">Sonia Arrison</a>, director of technology studies at the free-market Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco, said the Internet Safety Act "follows in a long line of bad laws that are written in the name of protecting children."
<br>Complicating the outlook for the Internet Safety Act is the uncertain political terrain of Capitol Hill. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, <a title="Congress may consider mandatory ISP snooping -- Friday, Apr 28, 2006" href="/Congress+may+consider+mandatory+ISP+snooping/2100-1028_3-6066608.html?tag=nl">announced legislation</a> (<a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fenergycommerce.house.gov%2F108%2FMarkups%2F04262006%2Fdegette_001_XML.PDF&siteId=3&oId=/Congress+may+consider+mandatory+ISP+snooping/2100-1028_3-6066608.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">click for PDF</a>) last month--which could be appended to a telecommunications bill--that would require Internet providers to store records that would permit police to identify each user.
<br>The head of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, has <a title="Republican politico endorses data retention -- Friday, May 5, 2006" href="/Republican+politico+endorses+data+retention/2100-1028_3-6069210.html?tag=nl">expressed support</a> for DeGette's plan. That could lead to a renewal of a turf battle between the two committees, one of which has jurisdiction over Internet providers, while the other is responsible for federal criminal law.
<br>"We're still evaluating things," said Terry Lane, a spokesman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "We haven't really laid out exactly yet what kind of proposals we would support and what kind of proposals would be necessary."
<h3>New Internet felonies proposed</h3>
<br><strong>Following are excerpts from Rep. Sensenbrenner's Internet Safety Act:</strong>
<br>"Whoever, being an Internet content hosting provider or email service provider, knowingly engages in any conduct the provider knows or has reason to believe facilitates access to, or the possession of, child pornography shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
<br>"'Internet content hosting provider' means a service that (A) stores, through electromagnetic or other means, electronic data, including the content of web pages, electronic mail, documents, images, audio and video files, online discussion boards, and weblogs; and (B) makes such data available via the Internet"
<br>"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 (and what) user identification or telephone number was assigned..."
<br>Federal politicians also are being lobbied by state law enforcement agencies, which say strict data retention laws will help them investigate crimes that have taken place a while ago.
<br>Sgt. Frank Kardasz, head of Arizona's <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.azicac.org%2F&siteId=3&oId=/Republican+politico+endorses+data+retention/2100-1028_3-6069210.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force</a>, surveyed his colleagues in other states earlier this year asking them what new law would help them do their jobs. "The most frequent response involved data retention by Internet service providers," or ISPs, Kardasz told News.com last month.
<br><strong>"Preservation" vs. "Retention"</strong>
At the moment, ISPs typically discard any log file that's no longer required for business reasons such as network monitoring, fraud prevention or billing disputes. Companies do, however, alter that general rule when contacted by police performing an investigation--a practice called data preservation.
<br>A 1996 <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usdoj.gov%2Fcriminal%2Fcybercrime%2F2703_CSEA.htm&siteId=3&oId=/Republican+politico+endorses+data+retention/2100-1028_3-6069210.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">federal law</a> called the Electronic Communication Transactional Records Act regulates data preservation. It <a title="My (brief) career as an ISP -- Friday, Oct 10, 2003" href="/My+brief+career+as+an+ISP/2010-7355_3-5089267.html?tag=nl">requires Internet providers to retain</a> any "record" in their possession for 90 days "upon the request of a governmental entity."
<br>Because Internet addresses remain a relatively scarce commodity, ISPs tend to allocate them to customers from a pool based on whether a computer is in use at the time. (Two standard techniques used are the <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FDynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol&siteId=3&oId=/My+brief+career+as+an+ISP/2010-7355_3-5089267.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol</a> and <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FPoint-to-Point_Protocol_over_Ethernet&siteId=3&oId=/My+brief+career+as+an+ISP/2010-7355_3-5089267.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet</a>.)
<br>In addition, ISPs are <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.law.cornell.edu%2Fuscode%2Fhtml%2Fuscode42%2Fusc_sec_42_00013032----000-.html&siteId=3&oId=/My+brief+career+as+an+ISP/2010-7355_3-5089267.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">required by another federal law</a> to report child pornography sightings to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which is in turn charged with forwarding that report to the appropriate police agency.
<br>When adopting its data retention rules, the European Parliament approved <a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.europarl.eu.int%2Fomk%2Fsipade3%3FL%3DEN%26OBJID%3D105467%26LEVEL%3D5%26MODE%3DSIP%26NAV%3DX%26LSTDOC%3DN&siteId=3&oId=/My+brief+career+as+an+ISP/2010-7355_3-5089267.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">U.K.-backed requirements</a> saying that communications providers in its 25 member countries--several of which had enacted their own data retention laws already--must retain customer data for a minimum of six months and a maximum of two years.
<br>The Europe-wide requirement applies to a wide variety of "traffic" and "location" data, including the identities of the customers' correspondents; the date, time and duration of phone calls, voice over Internet Protocol calls, or e-mail messages; and the location of the device used for the communications. But the "content" of the communications is not supposed to be retained. The rules are expected to take effect in 2008.
<br>According to a memo accompanying the proposed rules (<a href="http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Feuropa.eu.int%2Feur-lex%2Flex%2FLexUriServ%2FLexUriServ.do%3Furi%3DCOM%3A2005%3A0438%3AFIN%3AEN%3APDF&siteId=3&oId=/My+brief+career+as+an+ISP/2010-7355_3-5089267.html&ontId=1023&lop=nl.ex">click here for PDF</a>), European politicians approved the rules because not all operators of Internet and communications services were storing information about citizens' activities to the extent necessary for law enforcement and national security.
<br>In addition to mandating data retention for ISPs and liability for Web site operators, Sensenbrenner's Internet Safety Act also would:
<br>• Make it a crime for financial institutions to "facilitate access" to child pornography, for instance by processing credit card payments.
<br>• Increase penalties for registered sex offenders who commit another felony involving a child.
<br>• Create an Office on Sexual Violence and Crimes against Children inside the Justice Department.
<br><em>CNET News.com's Anne Broache contributed to this report.</em>
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