FBI: We Need Wiretap-Ready Web Sites — Now 377
TheGift73 writes with news that the FBI is pushing a proposal to update old wiretap legislation so that modern web firms would be forced to build in backdoors to facilitate government surveillance. Quoting CNET:
"In meetings with industry representatives, the White House, and U.S. senators, senior FBI officials argue the dramatic shift in communication from the telephone system to the Internet has made it far more difficult for agents to wiretap Americans suspected of illegal activities, CNET has learned. The FBI general counsel's office has drafted a proposed law that the bureau claims is the best solution: requiring that social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly. ... The FBI's proposal would amend a 1994 law, called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, that currently applies only to telecommunications providers, not Web companies. The Federal Communications Commission extended CALEA in 2004 to apply to broadband networks."
"Libtard" Rand Paul opposes this (Score:2, Informative)
Opposes SOPA/CISPA. Opposes warrantless wiretapes or backdoors into websites. - Just thought I'd point that out. - For all the hate directed at him in the other article, I think You and Paul are in 99% agreement on these topics.
Re:Time to move. (Score:3, Informative)
FreedomBox [wikipedia.org] (which has been mentioned on Slashdot before) is working on it. Particularly, building a usable system with the vision that an average user could buy a cheap plug computer with FreedomBox's software installed, plug it in, and use it instead of the various centralized cloud and social services in use today. The software is based on Debian and combining existing tools along with new software and protocols to make it usable.
Re:Skype? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:The US Financial Berlin Wall Won't Allow That (Score:4, Informative)
Unless things have changed very recently, the US government allowed you to file a form informing them of the taxes you paid to your resident country and deduct that amount from your US taxes. If you lived in most of the civilised world, that meant you paid more than the US rate anyhow and had a US tax liability of $0.