Ä [34] CIVLIB (1:375/48) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ CIVLIB Ä Msg : #5983 [110] From : Jim Bell 1:105/105 Wed 02 Mar 94 21:53 To : All Subj : Clinton's Buggery ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Cross-post from Libernet From: freematt@aol.com Date: Fri, 25 Feb 94 00:58:57 EST FWD> By Matthew Gaylor ****White House To Intro Superhighway Surveillance Bill 02/24/94 WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A. 1994 FEB 24 (NB) -- The FBI and Justice Department are expected to formally unveil their legislation to give government investigators power to tap into individuals on the information superhighway. The legislation is likely to set off a confrontation in Congress between law enforcement forces on the one hand and civil liberties advocates and the telecommunications industry on the other. The White House was set to brief telephone company executives today and public interest groups tomorrow. But the draft legislation has already surfaced in Washington and Newsbytes has obtained a copy. The administration draft defines as a "common carrier" any network or provider that carries voice or data, including telephone, cable, computer and other firms, and says the FBI can require the common carrier to deliver contents of message and call setup information to a remote government site. The legislation would require a court order before the FBI could install a wiretap. But the agency would not need to get a court order to track an individual's activity on the network. That would only require that the person is "subject to investigation." "Not happy," was the reaction of Jerry Berman, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in Washington. "This is a potential blueprint for an electronic surveillance society." The EFF is leading a coalition of civil-liberties groups and industry opposing the legislation, which is similar to a bill the Bush administration proposed in 1992 and dropped when opponents bombarded it as intrusive. While the new bill is different from the Bush proposal, "You can't quarrel with the potential breadth of the new bill," Berman told Newsbytes. The new bill would give the attorney general broad power to demand that communications equipment be designed to guarantee that investigators would have access to it, and would allow the attorney general to seek fines of $10,000 a day for firms that don't comply. In some cases, the government could shut the firms down if they fail to comply. FBI Director Louis J. Freeh said in a speech last week that the new technologies and a "lack of support" by some communications executives mean "the country will be unable to protect itself against terrorism, violent crime, foreign threats, drug trafficking, espionage" and other crimes. The FBI and the Justice Department say the initiative would ensure access to communications they already have authority to tap, through the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. The FBI says it is troubled by all the new technology developments since then, including call forwarding to bounce calls from phone to phone, confusing tappers. Also, says the FBI, cellular systems can make it difficult to follow suspected activity by limiting the number of ports into the systems. When it is introduced in Congress, Berman said, it will be referred to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. In the House, it will come before Rep. Don Edwards' crime and criminal justice subcommittee. Edwards, a California Democrat who is also a former FBI agent, is one of the most stalwart defenders of civil liberties in Congress and a long-time member of the American Civil Liberties Union. In the Senate, the measure will come before the technology and the law subcommittee, chaired by Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), another civil libertarian. "This won't be the same bill when, and if, it emerges from Congress," Berman predicted. (Kennedy Maize/19940224/Contact: Jerry Berman, Electronic Frontier Foundation, 202-347-5400) Transmitted: 94-02-24 17:40:15 EST ... Just say no to Clipper/Capstone/NSA ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12 --- Maximus/2 2.01wb * Origin: Taboo (1:105/105)