Gonzales Calls for Law Demanding Preservation of Internet Customer Data

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,214568,00.html

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Keep falling for this stuff, people - your children and grand-children will grow up in a country totally un-recognizable as "America". Pete

~snipped politically natured comments....Bubba~

 

Post removed; Moderator decisions are not up for debate.

And as this thread has started out on a slippery slope I'll draw it to a close.

Blackspear.

 

FBI director wants ISPs to track users

http://news.com.com/2102-7348_3-6126877.html?tag=st.util.print

"Story last modified Tue Oct 17 17:38:56 PDT 2006

FBI Director Robert Mueller on Tuesday called on Internet service providers to record their customers' online activities, a move that anticipates a fierce debate over privacy and law enforcement in Washington next year.
"Terrorists coordinate their plans cloaked in the anonymity of the Internet, as do violent sexual predators prowling chat rooms," Mueller said in a speech at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Boston.

"All too often, we find that before we can catch these offenders, Internet service providers have unwittingly deleted the very records that would help us identify these offenders and protect future victims," Mueller said. "We must find a balance between the legitimate need for privacy and law enforcement's clear need for access."

The speech to the law enforcement group, which approved a resolution on the topic earlier in the day, echoes other calls from Bush administration officials to force private firms to record information about customers. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, for instance, told Congress last month that "this is a national problem that requires federal legislation."

Justice Department officials admit privately that data retention legislation is controversial enough that there wasn't time to ease it through the U.S. Congress before politicians left to campaign for re-election. Instead, the idea is expected to surface in early 2007, and one Democratic politician has already promised legislation. " ( http://news.com.com/Data retention bill expected next week/2100-1028_3-6118283.html?tag=nl )

Note specifically from that Cnet article: "Also, under an earlier proposal described by DeGette, the information would be available not only to police but to civil litigants as well, including divorce lawyers hoping to track someone down or employers embroiled in a lawsuit with a former employee."

(And, of course, "civil litigants" will include the R.I.A.A and the M.P.A.A - Pete)

Note to mods - if you like, please add this post to that one and keep it locked - this one's for informational/follow-up purposes only. It's too important not to update. Thanks. Pete

~threads merged per thread starters request....link removed as such....Bubba~