U.S gives big, secret push to internet surveillance

[StandingInLeftField]

Source: cnet.com

Justice Department agreed to issue "2511 letters" immunizing AT&T and other companies participating in a cybersecurity program from criminal prosecution under the Wiretap Act, according to new documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Senior Obama administration officials have secretly authorized the interception of communications carried on portions of networks operated by AT&T and other Internet service providers, a practice that might otherwise be illegal under federal wiretapping laws.

The secret legal authorization from the Justice Department originally applied to a cybersecurity pilot project in which the military monitored defense contractors' Internet links. Since then, however, the program has been expanded by President Obama to cover all critical infrastructure sectors including energy, healthcare, and finance starting June 12.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57581161-38/u.s-gives-big-secret-push-to-internet-surveillance/

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New news or old news? Good news or bad news?

Seems to be an awful lot of discretion being given over the definition of 'critical infrastructure.'

[zipplewrath]

1. N-dimensional Chess

You just have to understand N-demensional chess.
Oh, and he isn't god, he can't force congress to do anything.
Besides, these are just letters, he doesn't really mean them.

[Hotler]

2. .......

[bemildred]

4. Security theater. They might as well go pound sand.

However, such incapability is not to be admitted, so we get these repeated attempts to intimidate the public with the obvious facts of the situation: you have NO privacy on the internet unless you take the trouble to supply it yourself.

[woo me with science]

5. Yet if you take the trouble to supply it yourself,

you may be considered a potential terrorist.

Do You Like Online Privacy? You May Be a Terrorist
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002257966

[bemildred]

6. Well, a troublemaker for sure.

If you are the sort of person who wants to avoid government interest, you might want to consider other steps besides encryption. Since we (you & I) are here, we clearly are not that sort of person.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

16. What kind of people are in charge of this with the extraordinary suspicion of ordinary Americans?

With our luck, it's probably the same type of people who give free feel-ups at the airports.

[Kelvin Mace]

7. Time for Americans to start embracing encryption and TOR

Because the government can no longer be trusted.

[WRH2]

8. holder is doing more damage than dick cheney

to Democracy as we envision it

[thesquanderer]

9. First his justice dep't refuses to go after the Bush admin for warrantless wiretapping

and then he continues to do it himself.

I sure hope we get a Dem in the White House some day.

[forestpath]

11. +1

[AAO]

12. We have a dem. We need a progressive liberal in the whitehouse.

[AardvarkAsparagus]

10. Can't be much of a secret

if it is reported on the net

[thefool_wa]

13. I thought Obama was supposed to be different?

The only thing that has changed in 5 years is the color of the guy in charge. (no that's not racist, just observing a fact). At what point will we recognize that exercising our right to vote and our right to speak out against these things are NEVER going to be enough to stop them.

The government and businesses of a nation working in collusion to subvert the laws and rights of the citizenry is one of the definitions of Fascism. It gets worse all the time and the potential to change things through political process is just an illusion. Eventually, we will have to ACTUALLY DO something to stop them.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

14. On the positive side, the Obama Administration really wants to listen to us.

[yodermon]

15. This is the merging of Corporate and Governmental power. There's a term for that. n/t

[OnyxCollie]

17. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!