FBI Pressures Internet Providers To Install Surveillance Software 225
An anonymous reader sends this quote from an article at CNet: "The U.S. government is quietly pressuring telecommunications providers to install eavesdropping technology deep inside companies' internal networks to facilitate surveillance efforts. FBI officials have been sparring with carriers, a process that has on occasion included threats of contempt of court, in a bid to deploy government-provided software capable of intercepting and analyzing entire communications streams. The FBI's legal position during these discussions is that the software's real-time interception of metadata is authorized under the Patriot Act. Attempts by the FBI to install what it internally refers to as 'port reader' software, which have not been previously disclosed, were described to CNET in interviews over the last few weeks. One former government official said the software used to be known internally as the 'harvesting program.'"
Re:ENOUGH ALREADY! (Score:5, Interesting)
This is still supposed to be government "by the people, for the people" so there should be direct citizen oversight of the NSA, CIA, FBI, military intelligence, and any other alphabet-soup agencies within the government, preferably standing there with a big, heavy hardwood yardstick, ready to smack down hard on the knuckles of anyone of these goddamned spooks getting too nosy into what other honest, hardworking, tax-paying citizens are up to in their normal, everyday, absolutely non-terrorist lives. Of course the problem with that, is that the people involved in the oversight are going to be human beings, full of the same flaws that all other human beings are full of, and that's quite a powerful position to be in. No, I think maybe the best solution here is to have citizen oversight into the complete and total dismantlement of these surveillance networks, and make them go back to the good old days of actually doing "police work" to track down so-called "terrorists" and other wrong-doers, instead of using "protecting America" as an excuse for their blatant spying on everyone. The United States of America is not supposed to be a goddamned prison for it's citizens, where we're under armed guard 24 hours a day/365 days a year by those that are supposed to be serving us, and if these intelligence community jackasses don't like it, then they can all go to hell.
Re:Incompetence (Score:5, Interesting)
They needed the Boston bombing to justify the surveillance. They probably let it happen just like they let happen the 9/11 attacks. The peasant need to be reminded time to time that they should be afraid of the terrorist and that the government is there to protect them.
The only way to win is to not play by their rules. Mock them, laugh at the attack, refuse to condemn violence. Be seditionist, corrupt morals, piss on their gods and tell them to fuck off.
Being compassionate, supportive and patriotic only strengthen them.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
What goes around... (Score:2, Interesting)
I find it amusing and disturbing that the normal ideals of "what goes around, comes around" strictly does not apply here. If Bradley Manning leaks information, if Edward Snowden tells of systems used for spying (not even the details, just that the programs exist), or if Julian Assange stands behind the information being revealed, then the US government goes all ballistic on them, they are criminals, and enemies, and must be stopped, tortured, killed, sent to a kangaroo court with a secret trial, secret evidence, and millions of years in prison. I thought about Snowden, and what the shadows he has to hide in, and it reminded me of Leon Trotsky (killed by the Russian government in Mexico in 1940). The Patriot Act grants absolute power, and is wide open to absolute corruption, and they cleave to it like a rat pup to its mothers teat. What Orwellian hell has this country created for itself? Clearly the citizens are in no way able to control the out-of-control nature. The poor cannot affect change so their ranks swell. They desperately vote for the political left, yet see little relief. The right are desperate to keep getting richer, and also to stem the power of government, and while they keep getting richer, the government keeps going out of control. The political machine in the US is broken, and as a result, the US is a country out of control. I see 1) The middle class to all become poor, 2) the rich to become ultra rich 3) the government spy agencies to swell to 10x their size, 4) US foreign debt to swell 5) More cities in the US to go bankrupt 6) Increased salaries for executives 7) continued abuses by banks ...since we did not learn from the last disaster, we are prone to another, bigger one 8) The US government using drones to kill thousands/millions of its own people. The poor will lose their citizenship. The US government may even try to deport them to other countries.
therein is the stupidity, monitoring me instead of (Score:4, Interesting)
Pretend you are responsible for reducing terrorism. You're giving a hundred million dollar budget, a list of 50 people who appear to be threats, and the phone numbers of major internet providers. Do you:
a) use that money to closely monitor the 50 suspects
Or
b) make logs of every email and phone call of every law abiding citizen, so you have more data than you can possibly look at.
Choosing B is stupid.