At first, the Obama internet plan for the nation appeared to be a call for internet connection accessibility befitting a first world nation. However, the White House has something else it wants done online. The Obama administration and law enforcement agencies are working on a new bill, which will further regulate the telecommunications industry. The regulations will consist of higher access for monitoring purposes. The ability of the government to observe communications will greatly expand if the bill becomes regulation. Washington already has access to a broad array of communications for surveillance purposes, and this will expand that access.
Obama Web spying plan
According to the NY Times, the White House wants to pass a bill expanding monitoring and wiretap access for intelligence and law enforcement agencies. The bill builds upon existing jurisdictions. The Obama administration is behind the bill, which is due next year. The bill will mandate that all methods of communication be designed to permit government monitoring. The reason is that some communications, especially those on the Internet, are encrypted and private.
Small firms will miss out
. Research In Motion does not even have access to the private and encrypted transmissions from the Blackberry, which led to bans of the phone in some countries. RIM is within the process of complying with surveillance requirements of several governments, and businesses for instance Skype and other VOIP, or voice over web protocol, companies will have to re-engineer their products to regulatory standards. Law enforcement and intelligence services do rely on monitored communication to catch criminals, and as a result of the decreased accessibility, have seen their capabilities “going dark” to do their jobs.
Loose lips
Except for sign language, few methods of communication are exempt from the ability of federal to listen in. There was a good deal of controversy over the Bush domestic spying program. Obama has not dealt with fears of subversion of civil liberties. There are legitimate threats to public safety that could be dealt with by this legislation, and the government insists it’s not overstepping its authority by asking for the access. A greater degree of surveillance may seem a good tool for catching criminals in the act, but can very easily be misused.
Articles cited
NY Times
nytimes.com/2010/09/27/us/27wiretap.html?pagewanted=1
