EFF Asks How Big Brother Is Watching The Internet

MacDork writes "The EFF filed a FOIA request yesterday with the FBI and other offices of the US DOJ regarding expanded powers granted by the USA PATRIOT Act. The EFF is making the request in an attempt to find out whether or not Section 216 is being used to monitor web browsing without a warrant. The DOJ has already stated they can collect email and IP addresses, but has not been forthcoming on the subject of URL addresses. It seems the EFF is seeking any documentation to confirm such activity is taking place. One can only hope the automated FOIA search doesn't produce any false negatives or cost the EFF $372,999."

A Family Affair.

[Anonymous Coward]

"EFF Asks How Big Brother is Watching the Internet"

By getting his little sister to do it.

Re:Which is more important?

[Anonymous Coward]

Porn browsing.

Funny, the EFF got the reply already!

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

The EFF filed a FOIA request yesterday with the FBI and other offices of the US DOJ regarding expanded powers granted by the USA PATRIOT Act.

Dear EFF,

With regard to your surv^H^H^H^Hcustomer service (ref: EFF-KEYLGGR-SECRTRY), we're happy to preempt your request.

The automated reply to your inquiry is:

NO MATCH FOUND

We sincerely hope your request has been fulfilled. We stay at your disposition for further inquiry.

Regards,

Joe Snoop, Dept. of Homeland Security.

Re:Which is more important?

[Anonymous Coward]

If folks like you get killed then I'll take the porn.

Heh

[vbdrummer0]

There's probably something in the USA PATRIOT ACT keeping them from disclosing stuff about itself in FOIA requests.

"The first rule about USA PATRIOT ACT is you do not talk about USA PATRIOT ACT," if you will.

Dear Diary

[Thunderstruck]

I wrote my uncle a letter yesterday. I used some nice stationary and envelopes from a shop in Bismarck. I asked him what he thought about the current administration, and if he could lend me his copy of a certain antisocial treatise. Unfortunately, the envelope did not have enough space for me to write a return address on the outside.

(Attention Carnivore, this post is intended as a joke, for the recipient only.)

What you don't realize

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that nearly every single packet that flows on the internet is routed through a facility in Virginia. At that facility, the print out each packet and examine it for illegal activity. They then copy the packet in triplicate, fax one copy to a vault in Colorado, and file the rest in the file of whoever originated the packet. Interesting or suspicious packets are emailed to the CIA and occasionally to the Mosad for further examination.

Re:Which is more important?

[QuantumRiff]

Don't you love your country son? Do you want our brave soldiers to die? What religon are you?

Don't worry about that last question, we know the answer. We'll be at your house about 10 minutes after you get home from work.

And seriously, you should be getting back to work. You owe it to your employer, and to help the economy, which prevents terrorism!

See you soon flewp.
--The Man

How's this for evidence

[Anonymous Coward]

We can see you through your monitors. You have mussed up hair, thick glasses, and no girlfriend. You are currently picking your nose thinking that nobody can see you.

You self gratify in front of your computer at least 3 times per week.

And now you are looking at the back of your monitor to see how we did it....

Re:stationary v. stationery

[rco3]

"i wasn't the intended recipient, but i was still amused by your homophonia."

I didn't see anything in his post about not liking gay people; are you sure?

FBI watching

[Ostie]

Someone at FBI watching ...

Joe#23153445 : URL http://www.*censored*.com
FBI guy : Great p0rn!
Joe#23153445 : URL http://www.*censored*.com
FBI guy : Damn, that user got tastes!
Joe#23153445 : URL http://www.*censored*.com

FBI guy to others FBI agents : I will keep watching user Joe#23153445 for a while, his activities seem suspecious. I will need extreme concentration, you can dismiss now.

Re:What you don't realize

[Anonymous Coward]

Please be available at your place of residence (already known to us) at 0700GMT February 2 for questioning and possible detainment. You have been invited to assist the Ministry of Information with certain enquiries, the nature of which may be ascertained on completion of application form BZ/ST/486/C fourteen days within this date.

signed,
the Ministry of Information, c.o. the CIA

Re:Creepy stuff

[Kronovohr]

isn't anonymizer.com run by the CIA? Not to be dense or paranoid, but I heard somewhere that it is.

False dichotomy

[Chris Burke]

Yes, because only by monitoring everyone's porn browsing can we stop terrorists. But you raise a good point! So along the same lines, I have a question of my own.

Which is more important:

Not being raped by a herd of goats

or

The lives of thousands or even millions of Americans that could be slaughtered in a terrorist attack?

Obviously the later is more important. So down on all fours, bucko. No, no, too late to protest now. We have to Fight Terror!

Re:How's this for evidence

[Chris Burke]

You self gratify in front of your computer at least 3 times per week.

Ah-ha! Proof that you are only watching 10% of the time! You were a fool to give that away...

Re:Most of you have it...

[Anonymous Coward]

FBI guy: "Efialtis has us figured out. Please put him on our radar."

Re:homoPHONIA. from homophone. look it up.

[rco3]

[sigh] Yes.

While I'm at it, shall I look up pedantic, obtuse, and naive for you?

See, there's this thing called humor, and it isn't always accompanied by the use of numbers as letters... I'm sorry that you didn't get it, but if I'd just said "LOLOLO!!!11!!! homophonia 50u|\|d5 1ik3 |-|0m0p|-|0bi4 !!!11!!!" it just wouldn't have been funny AT ALL.

But I appreciate the effort. It's nice to see the new folks chiming in around here.

Re:Wouldn't it be something...

[Frogbert]

I believe in soviet russia they already are.