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FBI Pressures Internet Providers To Install Surveillance Software

Posted by Soulskill on from the a-piece-of-the-action dept.

An anonymous reader sends this quote from an article at CNet: "The U.S. government is quietly pressuring telecommunications providers to install eavesdropping technology deep inside companies' internal networks to facilitate surveillance efforts. FBI officials have been sparring with carriers, a process that has on occasion included threats of contempt of court, in a bid to deploy government-provided software capable of intercepting and analyzing entire communications streams. The FBI's legal position during these discussions is that the software's real-time interception of metadata is authorized under the Patriot Act. Attempts by the FBI to install what it internally refers to as 'port reader' software, which have not been previously disclosed, were described to CNET in interviews over the last few weeks. One former government official said the software used to be known internally as the 'harvesting program.'"

10 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. ENOUGH ALREADY! by xystren · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Since I have nothing to hide, YOU have no reason to look!

    How about we pull a reversal and be permitted to monitor the FBI, NSA and CIA own internal network? All in the name of the constitution to ensure they are not overstepping their mandates and/or boundaries.

    I wonder how well that would go over with them?

    1. Re:ENOUGH ALREADY! by BlueStrat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And even if most/all of what you have to hide is illegal, GET A WARRANT!

      USGOV: "We DID get warrants! We made up an extra-Constitutional, secret-decoder-ring-court out of whole cloth, and it gave us warrants for everything, everyone, and everywhere at any time. See? All "legal"!"

      Off-topic, but just out of curiosity, I wonder how many government/TLA big-wigs and/or their families drive "remotely-hackable" cars that could be made to "Michael Hastings" someone? Might be worth looking into.

      TLAs and other nosy government types need to remember that this shiny tech they abuse is double-edged. We citizens can maliciously hack and do drones, too...and on a scale that's orders-of-magnitude larger.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
  2. I wonder when.. by epyT-R · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder when this whole top heavy mess in washington will come crashing down.. They don't need to worry about 'terrorists', foreign or 'home grown'. Their own self destructive behavior will do them all in first...and drag the rest of us citizens down with them.

    1. Re:I wonder when.. by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Hmm... considering that Bin Laden's goal was (allegedly) the destabilization of the USA along with its bankruptcy... Damn that guy was a strategy genius. And one in psychological warfare, too.

      That bastard really accomplished all his goals for this war. He read his enemies like an open book and played them like a violin.

      That, ladies and gentlemen, is genius. I don't like him or the development any more than any other sane person, but you have to admire that, whether you like it or not. He knew the weak spot of the US is the combination of greedy leaders and fearful followers, mixed with an industry ready, willing and able to exploit both, and he knew how to use that to his own goals.

      Brilliant. But why does brilliance in leaders always come packaged with being a complete asshole?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  3. Don't you think it's a little late now? by allaunjsilverfox2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This has been A LONG time coming. Decades of mission creep, no one complains. But now that it's come back to bite us in the Gluteus maximus, we're all surprised? Personally, I love the idea that it's happening. Sure, I'll probably be one of the ones tortured and jailed for no other reason than "suspicious activity". And I'm not looking forward to that bit at all. But people have been screaming at us that this was going to happen. And no one listened. You reap what you sew, etc. As it was stated in the past, When they start coming for you, it's too late to change things.

    --
    Restore the madness of youth's lechery
    1. Re:Don't you think it's a little late now? by Rougement · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, I completely disagree. Snowden provided proof of domestic spying and now the story is blowing up big time and going into all sorts of places. The world is waking up to this, now is the time to be indignant. Just because a few people "knew" 15 years ago, it doesn't mean it's old news for the vast majority of people.

  4. Incompetence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All this capability and warnings from Russia, and they still could not stop the Boston bombings. They also could not stop the Detroit shoe bomber.

    1. Re:Incompetence by amiga3D · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you look at history the biggest threat to the citizens of a country is always their own government. No one is more likely to enslave or kill you. The founding father's realized this hence the protections built into the Constitution. Unfortunately the population is too easily manipulated into breaking the chains that keep the monster under control.

    2. Re:Incompetence by meta-monkey · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I used to feel that way, until I saw the government reaction to the spying leaks. That's malice.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
  5. We Never Learn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People often look back at datelines where fascists thrived (Germany, Cambodia, Spain, etc.) and think, "Wow! How couldthey just sit back and let that happen!"

    Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is how.