Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Clinton creates group to "address unlawful conduct" on Net

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the using-political-powers dept.

Ungrounded Lightning Rod writes "President Clinton has issued an exectutive order creating a "Working Group" to "address unlawful conduct that involves the use of the Internet". The text of the Executive Order is online.. " The text of it looks disturbing-perhaps a legally-qualified person can offer some thoughts, but a trying to change the Internet by fiat doesn't seem the most effective-click below for more details.

Chaired by the Attorney General and including the other law-enforcement and "child"-related cabinet secretaries (Treasury, Commerce, Education) and department heads or agency directors (OMB, FBI, ATF, DEA, FTC, FDA), it is mandated to investigate how current federal law can be used to investigate and prosecute Internet users, propose new laws, regulations, and technology development to assist investigations, and study existing and potential technological tools for mandatory internet censorship.

They are to issue a report early December - a very fast track

3 of 409 comments (clear)

  1. another EO to fight by Taipan · · Score: 4

    This EO has more implications than just studying internet "usage" and proposing new laws. It actually gives this group the power to implement policy and legislation over the internet without agreement from other legislative bodies. The text of the EO just requires that the working group get input from other bodies. They can ignore the input as long as they document the reasons why. Last time I read the Constitution, only Congress had the power to enact legislation like that. Where is the Congressional outcry??????

    For a good analysis of the EO, look at WorldNetDaily: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_btl/19990809_ xcbtl_clinton_co.shtml


    cheers!!

  2. This is not a big deal by roger_ford · · Score: 4

    Once again, Slashdot has reacted in its typical reactionary manner. This order is NOT a, abuse by Bill Clinton. It's nto even a significant event, really. Here's why. All this order does is establish a group to study whether or not there could be effective laws to help prevent some of the illegality that already exists on the internet, and whether or not these laws exist. (See the examples cited in the order: fraud [travel scams, prescription drug scams, fake ecomerce sites, etc], child pornography, drug trafficking, etc.) Most of the time, these laws already exist; if they do not, any new laws would still have to go through the existing lawmaking process - the house, the senate, a signature by the president, and, if there's a possibility of a constitutional violation, the court system. This group has NO lawmaking powers on its own. No one is talking about banning nudity or encryption or anything like that. Besides, the federal courts have been very reluctant to uphold any anti-liberty net laws so far; it's unlikely they would suddenly start approving them. The US government sponsors hundreds of such commissions every year; this is nothing new. And likely, nothing will ever come out of it. Don't worry. The sky is not falling. Roger Ford

  3. As a licensed attorney, here's my reading: by Threemoons · · Score: 5

    Hey all. Just got done reading the order, after putting on my big silly Lawyer's Hat (and taking the Red one off for a minute). Here's my 2c...

    1) Folks, this isn't really all that revolutionary. Yes, it shows rampant stupidity and a desparate need on Clinton's part to kowtow towards the right. However, none of the listed governmental bodies are being given one iota more power than they already really have. The fact that no mention is made that LIMITS THE POWER OF THE CM'TE to US LAWS shows that this thing is probably being done as a sort of political pre-emptive strike--a real hack job. This Order's true target will no doubt rear its disgusting head in the next few weeks or so.

    2) This can also be seen as a potential strike against crypto, especially strong crypto--look at all those allusions to "just how well can law enforcement deal with this stuff...." Great straw man.

    3) The fact that the Budget Cmte. gets to review any recommendations BEFORE they are officially presented to the Prez and Veep also shows that they just want an excuse to write more bad laws, not make real policies. It's a lot easier to tell everyone that they can't do x y or z (like use crypto, have open access at libraries, etc) then to bother to train, recruit, and outfit top-notch people to help get after the real crooks.

    4) He's pulled in just about every freaking major association and commission in the GubMint. Can you say False Consensus Building?

    In short, the whole thing is just a made-to-order straw man for law enforcement and the Porn Police, IMHO.

    If anything, this should not be something that's limited to Federal committees. Write your Congressmen and Senators and DEMAND that the users of new technologies get a voice in the proceedings.

    Foreign Slashdotters: Protest, protest, protest and make sure that YOUR governments remind the US that they ain't the only game in town. Use crypto. Help foster use of encryption standards that work between the US and the rest of the planet.

    Hope this sheds some light w/o generating too much heat.