Foreign Data Unsafe From US Patriot Act, Says American Law Firm

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Foreign Data Unsafe From US Patriot Act, Says American Law Firm

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday January 26, 2012 @01:05AM from the long-arm-of-the-law dept.

natecochrane writes "A prestigious law firm warns non-U.S. businesses their data is unsafe from costly and invasive raids by American law enforcement even if they host their data in their own countries. The wide interpretation of the USA Patriot Act ensures U.S. cops can legally demand data from almost anyone, anywhere for any reason and countries and their citizens are largely powerless to resist. The advice has resonance with the arrest this week of Kim 'Dotcom' on alleged copyright violations in the U.S."

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legally demand by clemdoc · 2012-01-26 01:06 · Score: 5, Insightful

Well, that demand doesn't need to be answered.
1. Re:legally demand by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 01:15 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Unfortunately for people in the UK our Conservative/Liberal government are a gang of spineless puppets who do whatever their US masters tell them. As were the previous Labour government.
  I have to wonder if a desire to suck US cock is a requirement to get into politics in this country?..
2. Re:legally demand by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 01:19 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  It's funny that U.S. conservatives complain about International law being applied in the U.S. and that those people are against a N.W.O. when it seems like the U.S. is leading the charge on forcing its laws on other countries as it sees fit. All the people with "U.S. out of the U.N. now" signs have no clue.
3. Re:legally demand by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 01:21 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  They are free to ignore the demands, true.
  The article, however, spoke of the conflict of IT companies that had interests in the U.S., who may be forced to obey U.S. law. Specifically, the story is about the privacy commissioner of my province (Alberta) recommending that our government only use companies with no U.S. connections to guarantee the privacy of the data.
  That means no American companies, no outsourcing to the U.S., and no data storage in the United States. The U.S. are international lepers in the privacy world and should be avoided at all costs.
4. Re:legally demand by malkavian · 2012-01-26 01:36 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  No, our current group are bound by a one sided legal treaty signed in by Labour. The current group are looking for a way to end the agreement legally (as it's not great for business; I suspect citizens are an also ran, but useful flag to wave).
  That's the thing with international law and diplomacy, you can't easily turn around and say "We don't like it anymore, so screw you". Well, not without screwing up your international reputation and ability to strike future agreements. It needs to be done carefully.
5. Re:legally demand by snowgirl · 2012-01-26 01:41 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  That means no American companies, no outsourcing to the U.S., and no data storage in the United States. The U.S. are international lepers in the privacy world and should be avoided at all costs.
  Unfortunately, even this is not enough. The non-US company would have to ensure any and all contact with the US is prevented, to ensure that there is not even a crack of a sliver of the door to US jurisdiction.
  The way they got a porno director here in the US who operated in California, was to order his product in Georgia and have them ship it there. BAM! Georgia claims jurisdiction and the guy goes to jail.
  In fact, one of the wedges used to argue for jurisdiction over megauploads, was that they used PayPal. So, now you can't deal with USD, nor can you particularly even do business with American companies. That cuts out a lot of business, and every multinational company.
  The world is getting so small now, that it will be impossible for any company or business person to ever manage to keep out from the from the ever expanding abuse of jurisdiction that the US is applying.
  
  --
  WARNING! This girl exceeds the MAXIMUM SAFE standards established by the FDA for BRATTINESS
6. Re:legally demand by Nadaka · 2012-01-26 02:05 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Conservatism is about stopping the advancement of progressiveness and liberty, or in extreme cases, to roll it back.
  The police state is the ultimate conservative institution. And the Patriot Act is one of the police states most powerful weapons.
7. Re:legally demand by rainmouse · 2012-01-26 02:15 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  For those interested in this treaty, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extradition_Act_2003 It makes for some outrageous reading.
8. Re:legally demand by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 02:23 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  They are free to ignore the demands, true.
  The article, however, spoke of the conflict of IT companies that had interests in the U.S., who may be forced to obey U.S. law. Specifically, the story is about the privacy commissioner of my province (Alberta) recommending that our government only use companies with no U.S. connections to guarantee the privacy of the data.
  That means no American companies, no outsourcing to the U.S., and no data storage in the United States. The U.S. are international lepers in the privacy world and should be avoided at all costs.
  If the person in question is not a US citizen and not in the US, then it is ultimately up to her or his country of citizenship and country where they are located if any state cooperation is given at all.
  Sovereignty does have a few perks.
  It should also be noted that Megaupload (to take a recent) had US-based servers and bank accounts. These (IMHO) are fair game for the US government. They also generally were accessed by a .com domain, which is managed by a US-based company (would have been prudent to have .co, .eu, .co.uk, etc., addresses as well).
  However, extraditing him shouldn't be done, as he broke no law in the country he was in AFAIK. If they do extradite him, they'll also (logically speaking) have to extradite journalists who report on China if Beijing asks--even if the reporter/s in question wrote their stories in New Zealand. It's a dangerous precedent to allow this to happen, as simple "access to bits" is not an really appropriate in the networked age.
  The only time that an extradition could be allowed would be in the case of crackers who went into remote systems of another country, as they were specifically "trespassing" the systems (though not physically). Though they could also be prosecuted locally since most countries have cyber-laws that deal with this as well.
9. Re:legally demand by Baloroth · 2012-01-26 02:36 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Conservatism is about stopping the advancement of progressiveness and liberty, or in extreme cases, to roll it back.
  Ah, nope! Might wanna consult a dictionary on that one.
  
  Conservatism (Latin: conservare, "to preserve")[1] is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society.
  So by definition, conservatives are opposed to new laws that infringe on existing liberties. Actually, they are opposed to new laws in general.
  P.S. Most of the so-called "conservatives" in the US government aren't really conservative.
  
  --
  "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
America, f*** yeah! by captainpanic · 2012-01-26 01:18 · Score: 5, Funny

Team America: World Police
Intended as satire. Used instead as guidebook.
This Service Not Available In Your Country by IonOtter · 2012-01-26 01:59 · Score: 5, Insightful

Dear American User:
We are very sorry, but your government is behaving like a spoiled child that thinks it can get it's way by screaming and kicking it's feet. While normally we would not be terribly concerned by this childish display, we are annoyed that you, the parents, are not doing anything to bring them under control.
As a result, you will not be permitted to utilize our service until you rein in your spoiled brat government and teach them proper manners, and how to act like a world citizen.
Thank you.
"Name of Service"

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