FBI Bugging Public Libraries

zamiel writes "Bill Olds writes in the Hartford Courant: 'I know my librarian, and I believe she would tell me if the government were tracking my computer use at the library. Don't you agree? No way. There's a gag order. When the FBI uses a court order or a subpoena to gain access to library computers or a list of the names of people who have borrowed certain books, librarians can't tell anyone - not even other librarians or you. They face a stiff federal penalty if they do. It's unfair that librarians should be placed in such a position.'" The American Library Association has a page with advice to librarians and links to previous news stories on the subject.

Comments

Absolutely outrageous!!

[bmetzler]

This has got to be the most outrageous complaint I've seen on /. yet. I fully support granting the FBI every single possible thing they might need to protect me. If they need to convertly monitor public computers to protect me from Al-Quida, then I am in full support of it.

Why are Americans so bent on protecting criminals? I don't understand. I want my liberties protected by giving the FBI every opportunity it needs to protect me.

-Brent

Re:So what?

[LineNoiz]

I'm relatively new to /., but I don't remember ever seeing any sort of stipulation that one MUST read every article that appears on the front page. Read the topic, read the synopsis. If you don't like/care about the topic, ignore it. That's what I do whenever I see any Linux/FreeBSD/Open Source/ad nauseum posts. I don't care, so I ignore it. Do I complain that it is there? No, I just ignore it. It's not terribly difficult.