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Utah Considers Warrantless Internet Subpoenas
seneces writes "The Utah State Legislature is considering a bill granting the Attorney General's Office the ability to demand customer information from Internet or cell phone companies via an administrative subpoena, with no judicial review (text of the HB150). This represents an expansion of a law passed last year, which granted that ability when 'it is suspected that a child-sex crime has been committed.' Since becoming law, last year's bill has led to more than one non-judicial request per day for subscriber information. Pete Ashdown, owner of a local ISP and 2006 candidate for the US Senate, has discussed his position and the effects of this bill."
This is a case study in why you can't pass exceptional legislation aimed at exceptional crimes. Just because a crime is particularly repugnant does not mean that we should lay down our rights to try and stop it. Don't be so lazy, find a better solution.
Eh, you must be knew here. That's how fascism works. You trick people into voting for these sorts of morons by scaring the crap out of them by theoreticals and what ifs. Then you do whatever you need to to do to take their rights.
As always, Big Brother comes in small, fairly digestible steps. Note
the progression below:
> Last year, the Legislature granted prosecutors subpoena power
> when they suspect a child-sex crime has been committed.
Here it was one crime...of course the one, where it's really hard to
say no to such a bill. Then we continue, as is not just to be
expected but a given:
> Daw's bill initially had sought to expand the authority to any
> crime, but committee members balked at such broad power last
> Friday. His amended bill limits the power to suspected felonies
> and two misdemeanors -- cyber-stalking and cyber-harassment.
So now it's child-sex crimes + SUSPECTED felonies + 2 misdemeanors.
In a couple of years, give or take, it'll become standard-operating
procedure applying at will to *everyone*. And that, ladies and
gentlemen, is the problem with taking away basic rights from the
people. It will always get worse, because nobody wants to lose their
shiny new toys anymore that give you almost god-power over other's.
Except, of course, you're in Soviet Russia. There Big Brother
doesn't subpoena your ISP records but the actual user for, uh,
re-education. A bit more of this stuff above and we'll be there too.
Under the Patriot Act, FBI agents may issue National Security Letters to obtain comprehensive financial and communications records about anyone, including people suspected of no wrongdoing and no connection to terrorists or foreign powers. To do this, the FBI merely needs to claim the information is relevant to an investigation. Anyone receiving one of these orders is prohibited by law from speaking about it to anyone else, except their attorney. The FBI issues tens of thousands of NSLs each year, most of them directed at U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.
I don't get it. Isn't Utah the home of a lot of those militant constitutional crusaders? So giving health care coverage to poor people and making people have health insurance to cut out the freeloaders in the health care system is socialism and unconstitutional, but law enforcement reviewing GPS cellphone data and their ISP logs without a warrant is all okay? You want the government out of our lives...unless it's abortion or right to die, then government intervention is okay.
How do you rationalize positions like that?
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
Child sex crime is horrible.
No argument there. I have children. The mere idea indeed, horrifies me.
But I am dismayed to see such crimes being used as leverage to obtain ever more far-reaching powers.
There is no question that "all power corrupts". It's not a standard quote for nothing - it is, all too sadly, true.
I believe that no special powers are needed here - just sensible application of the ones that the already specially privileged police forces already have, is sufficient. I see no realistic problem with getting a search warrant from a judge. Like for searching a house.
Suspicion indeed - I'd like to feel the police would need a little more than suspicion - suspicion with enough basisi to convince a judge, perhaps? Isn't that what they are for, as a counterbalance to "over zealous" police forces?
After all, anybody can suspect anybody of anything - with no basis whatsoever. And I don't think that's a good basis for a law. It's more like a license to harass, I'd say. And isn't there already enough of that?
"Cats like plain crisps"
How I wish that my sig was only a joke.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
If a LEO sees something on a forum or in real time in a chat room, they cannot wait for paperwork from a judge to be filed, signed, stamped, sealed, delivered back to a LEO and then driven out to an isp to try its best searching a database for an ip and address 24-48 h later.
Just trust the city or state police. Its not like the 1960's or 1970's, they have cleaned up at all levels - really.
They work on multi year federal and international cases and there has been decades of quality law reform in every state of the union.
Cointelpro was in the distant past, the Missouri Information Analysis Center report was a misunderstanding and quickly cleared up in the mainstream press.
Just give your local LEO the tools they need to make the internet safe from power points of demonic activity.
New net laws will allow the modern Utah internet user to have a faster internet again, ensuring shorter working hours, more safe time with the family online and lower mortgages.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
There has been a tool in most states since long before 9/11, allowing the cops to come into your house and search at any time, with or without a warrant. Your friendly local game commission dude is a member of law enforcement. He accompanies many raids, here in Arkansas. The laws regarding game are considered "special". If the game commission thinks you've poached a deer, they can come in, search your house, and find it, at gunpoint, all without a warrant. The cops want to make a drug bust? No warrant necessary. Just call the game warden, tell the warden there's some suspicion that some guy poached a deer, and, oh yeah, there may be drugs and/or guns in the house, so we'll accompany you for "protection".
Few people seem to realize that the erosion of rights has been going on for decades, rather than just the past nine years.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Exactly, and just as I predicted. Child abuse and kiddie porn should be added as a clause to Godwin's law when it comes to legislative discussions: sooner or later someone is going to bring up "The Children" to defend their side of the argument.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...