DOJ Already Monitoring Cable Internet Traffic

According to this Wired News article, the Justice Department is already using its new powers under the USA Patriot Act to obtain subscribers' identities and other information from cable operators without judicial oversight under Section 211 of the new legislation. Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff also says that the act has allowed police to obtain IP addresses of cable subscribers and has enabled DOJ to obtain court orders for ISP logs outside a court's traditional jurisdiction. The Senate Judiciary Committee has convened hearings to review the impact of the Bush administration's actions on civil liberties, but A.G. Ashcroft is not scheduled to appear until December 6. One wonders what effect the upcoming cable failure will have on government surveilance of the potentially criminal citizenry.

Comments

Re:US anti-terror laws

[TheMidget]

Quite a few European countries have had problems with terrorosts for years.

It's a problem of scale. In Europe, you get bombs in supermarkets or subway stations, car bombs near the roadside, some minor politicians shot or stabbed, but nothing really serious. So far, the Tour Montparnasse is still standing, Chirac is still alive, Bridges are still safe to cross, and while the Alp tunnels are now considered unsafe, this is due to accidents, rather than to deliberate acts of terrorism.

In Europe, most acts of terrorism have a death toll of 1 or 2 per incident, and maybe 10 wounded. In the US, you get 4000 deaths plus a very high-profile landmark destroyed. Not really the same scale.

Paranoia Strikes Me

[airship]

Am I the only one here who remembers the Sixties? I woke up one morning and the National Guard had shot and killed four students at Kent State University. Crazy thing was, most people in the 'establishment' thought that they deserved it, and that it was a good beginning. We thought we were all going to die just for something we believed in. Fortunately, we kept up our protests, the war ended, Nixon quit. We won that battle, but the war continues. Don't stop fighting for your rights, or you'll lose them.

There's somethin' happening here,
What it is ain't exactly clear.
There's a man with a gun over there,
Tellin' me I gotta beware.
I think it's time we stop,
Hey, what's that sound,
Everybody look what's going down.
- For What It's Worth, Stephen Stills, 1966