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FBI Can Inspect Bank Records w/o Court Orders
AlexZander writes: "Thankfully, the so-called 'Patriot Act II' was discovered last year and the public outcry that ensued was enough to get the bill tossed out the window. One of the goals of that act, however, has made it into law under the radar of the community at large. However, on December 13th, President Bush signed Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (the relevant section is 374) into law, which among other things, grants the FBI the power to obtain financial information without a court order from a judge. It also expands the definition of 'financial information' to include car dealerships, jewelry stores, insurance companies, and other stretches of the definition of 'financial institution'. Wired News has the story here."
"The best parts about this is that the law prevents the business that gives up the information to the FBI from telling their customer about the request. Oh, that and the new law only requires a "national security letter" from a field agent stating that the information reqested is part of an investigation relevant to national security.
Yikes!"
There was a post about this on whatreallyhappened.com.. and it linked to a large article about it here.
The story hit earlier, when the FBI started asking for the records of everyone who went to vegas (plane records and hotel records) from Christmas to New Years...
The details are all over the net, but you can start by reading this, this, or this.
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Insurance companies sell annuities which are, in essence, financial instruments.
Mmmm.. Donuts
Most every car dealer either arranges financing for their customers, and many are actual lenders. You know those "Buy Here, Pay Here" lots you pass on the way to work every morning? Those are cash cows, that border on usury. They sell a $1000 car for $3000, financed through them at 14-18%, and if you miss a payment, they drag it away with a tow truck and sell it to someone else.
Car dealers pull tons of credit reports, too. Some dealers won't let you test drive a car without pulling your credit. These guys are savvy financial operators, from the lowliest used-car dealer to the biggest multi-dealership operations.
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"but when real (documented) abuses occur"
Such as an article in a previous post (using the right wing Fox news as a source):
FBI agents investigating two strip club owners in Las Vegas on bribery charges bypassed a grand jury and instead used the Patriot Act to subpoena the financial records of the bar owners as well as several prominent city and county officials.
riding round the world on an old motorcycle
He went to PayDemocracy and set up a campaign to collect donations.
if ($it != $onething) {$it = $another;}
The part which I find the most scary about this hasn't been mentioned yet: The US Postal Service counts as a "financial institution" for the purpose of this act.
As a result, an FBI agent can walk into the USPS, without a warrant, and demand a detailed listing of all the mail you receive.
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
The slippery slope argument has already been proven by the FBI's use of the Patriot Act in investiations that have nothing to do with terrorism. Some lawmakers have begun to speak out about the Las Vegas incident, complaining that they were assured that the powers they granted to the administration under the Patriot Act were to fight terrorists, not "garden variety criminals."
Well, that's a very arguable topic. Do you REALLY have the right to "privacy". Certainly no such right is enumerated in the Constitution or Bill of Rights.
What right you are granted in the fourth amendment is The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures...
Now... some in the government seem to think it is reasonable that if you are even thought casually to be a terrorist, that ANY search of your, your property or information is reasonable. This is called the security over freedom camp.
There are those that argue that the right to privacy is one of the non enumerated rights you hold via the 10th amendment The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. If I may paraphrase that to my understanding:
"Unless the Federal Government by way of the Constitution or the States via laws or State Constitution retain a right exclusively from the people, the people maintain the right."
This argument is that people hold all rights until a state law or Constitutional amendment take the right away, thus unless the government specifically takes away your privacy, then you have it.
The slippery slope here is that the government does not retain the right to torture small children, thus you by default have that right via the 10th amendment. I personally agree with this last point and point out that the state does have the right to make such acts illegal and arest, try and punish you for such acts, but this does not diminish your right to commit the acts.
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
If you're going to think about that, keep in mind that Wired got its facts wrong. According to the bill summary, the 264-163 vote (roll call 649) which was presented as having taken place in June actually took place on 20 Nov, and was to agree to the conference report. Likewise, the Senate voice vote in November was to agree to the conference report. The actual vote on the bill as sent to the Senate, on 27 Jun, was 410-9 (roll call 333). Contrary to thier claims of opposing the legislation, both Rep. Betty McCollum and Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter voted for the bill in June, where section 334 of the bill is essentially identical to section 374 of the conference report. The Senate passed its version of the bill by unanimous consent on 31 Jul, also containing an essentially identical section 354. This was not a provision "slipped into the Intelligence Act at the 11th hour". Rather, it's a provision that politicians are now experiencing "buyer's remorse" over.
The cocksucking jew bastard "STEPHEN SOLARZ" was the same motherfucker who led the charge for us going into Iraq in Gulf War 1 and if you can find a copy of the speech he made at congress..it will scare the hell out of you. We really have a ZOG! (source)
ZOG as in Zionist something something... shit people say things I write are conspiratorial, but man those liberty forums they have the right frame of mind... Run /.'ers
MoFscker
Here is the list of House members that voted against this bill. The Senate took a voice vote, so no record is available. Vote Tally
We shouldn't have to pay for our democratically elected officials for doing the "Right Thing".
I'm pretty sure a very nicely worded letter to them congratualating them would have sufficed. Also, a strong worded letter to your elected officials who did NOT vote against this bill would be better yet.
Sig it.
Everyone got mad when the Mayor of Chicago bulldozed an airport in the night, despite public outcry. Now the President and Congress are doing the same thing with the Bill of Rights. And yeah, I'm pissed.
And Daley used the terrorism angle too, stating that it could be a launching point for attacks against downtown buildings. Most experts thought it would have the opposite effect - you're rermoving some radar and traffic controllers closest to downtown, and normal flightplans places planes pretty closely anyway. He later recanted this, essentially saying he just wanted to do it and get it over with. It was slated to close, it's lease with the Park District ending, but he wanted to fastforward a few years. Silly thing is, it's in a horrible spot for a park, isolated from the rest of the lakefront and probably won't ever be really used.
He probably means the FISA - Foreign Intelligence Surveillence Act - Court. Here's some info, both pre and post 9-11 about the FISA Court. In short - bad shit, almost certainly in violation of the constitution.
EFF
Ratical
Slate
When information is power, privacy is freedom.