That's scary. And they'll use the same tactic to deflect criticism as they do with wire-taps.
"If you aren't doing anything wrong you've got nothing to worry about." On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 3:21 PM, Dana <[email protected]> wrote: > > http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10448060-38.html?tag=nl.e703 > > > February 5, 2010 9:16 AM PST > FBI wants records kept of Web sites visited > by Declan McCullagh <http://www.cnet.com/profile/declan00/> > > - Font size > - Print > - E-mail > - Share > - 41 comments< > http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10448060-38.html#comments> > - > Yahoo! Buzz< > http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=cnet_news406&guid=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-13578_3-10448060-38.html%3Ftag%3Dyahoobuzz > > > > Share17< > http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cnet.com%2F8301-13578_3-10448060-38.html&src=sp > > > > The FBI is pressing Internet service providers to record which Web sites > customers visit and retain those logs for two years, a requirement that law > enforcement believes could help it in investigations of child pornography > and other serious crimes. > > FBI Director Robert Mueller supports storing Internet users' "origin and > destination information," a bureau attorney said at a federal task force > meeting on Thursday. > > FBI director Robert Mueller > (Credit: Anne Broache/CNET) > > As far back as a 2006 speech, Mueller had > *called*<http://news.cnet.com/2100-7348_3-6126877.html>for data > retention on the part of Internet providers, and emphasized the > point two years later when *explicitly asking > Congress*<http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9926803-38.html>to enact a > law making it mandatory. But it had not been clear before that > the FBI was asking companies to begin to keep logs of what Web sites are > visited, which few if any currently do. > > The FBI is not alone in renewing its push for data retention. As CNET * > reported* <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10446503-38.html> earlier > this > week, a survey of state computer crime investigators found them to be > nearly > unanimous in supporting the idea. Matt Dunn, an Immigration and Customs > Enforcement agent in the Department of Homeland Security, also expressed > support for the idea during the task force meeting. > > Greg Motta, the chief of the FBI's digital evidence section, said that the > bureau was trying to preserve its existing ability to conduct criminal > investigations. Federal regulations in place since at least 1986 > *require*<http://law.justia.com/us/cfr/title47/47-3.0.1.1.1.0.2.7.html > >phone > companies that offer toll service to "retain for a period of 18 > months" records including "the name, address, and telephone number of the > caller, telephone number called, date, time and length of the call." > > At Thursday's *meeting > (PDF)*<http://www.ntia.doc.gov/frnotices/2010/FR_OSTWGMtg_100111.pdf>of > the Online Safety and Technology Working Group, which was created by > Congress and organized by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Motta stressed > that the bureau was not asking that content data, such as the text of > e-mail > messages, be retained. > > "The question at least for the bureau has been about non-content > transactional data to be preserved: transmission records, non-content > records...addressing, routing, signaling of the communication," Motta said. > Director Mueller recognizes, he added "there's going to be a balance of > what > industry can bear...He recommends origin and destination information for > non-content data." > > Motta pointed to a 2006 > *resolution*< > http://www.politechbot.com/2006/10/23/data-retention-endorsed/>from > the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which called for > the > "retention of customer subscriber information, and source and destination > information for a minimum specified reasonable period of time so that it > will be available to the law enforcement community." > > Recording what Web sites are visited, though, is likely to draw both > practical and privacy objections. > > "We're not set up to keep URL information anywhere in the network," said > Drew Arena, Verizon's vice president and associate general counsel for law > enforcement compliance. > > And, Arena added, "if you were do to deep packet inspection to see all the > URLs, you would arguably violate the Wiretap Act." > > Another industry representative with knowledge of how Internet service > providers work was unaware of any company keeping logs of what Web sites > its > customers visit. > > If logs of Web sites visited began to be kept, they would be available only > to local, state, and federal police with legal authorization such as a > subpoena or search warrant. > > What remains unclear are the details of what the FBI is proposing. The > possibilities include requiring an Internet provider to log the Internet > protocol (IP) address of a Web site visited, or the domain name such as > cnet.com, a host name such as news.cnet.com, or the actual URL such as * > http://reviews.cnet.com/Music/2001-6450_7-0.html*< > http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/>. > > > While the first three categories could be logged without doing deep packet > inspection, the fourth category would require it. That could run up against > opposition in Congress, which > *lambasted*<http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9993554-38.html>the > concept in a series of hearings in 2008, causing the demise of a > company, NebuAd, which pioneered it inside the United States. > > The technical challenges also may be formidable. *John > Seiver*<http://www.dwt.com/people/JohnDSeiver>, > an attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine who represents cable providers, said > one of his clients had experience with a law enforcement request that > required the logging of outbound URLs. > > "Eighteen million hits an hour would have to have been logged," a > staggering > amount of data to sort through, Seiver said. The purpose of the FBI's > request was to identify visitors to two URLs, "to try to find out...who's > going to them." > > A Justice Department representative said the department does not have an > official position on data retention. > > *Disclosure: The author of this story participated in the meeting of the > Online Safety and Technology Working Group, though after the law > enforcement > representatives spoke.* > Declan McCullagh <http://www.mccullagh.org/> is a contributor to CNET > News > and a correspondent for CBSNews.com who has covered the intersection of > politics and technology for over a decade. Declan writes a regular feature > called Taking Liberties, focused on individual and economic rights; you can > bookmark his CBS News Taking Liberties > site< > http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/blogs/taking_liberties/main504383.shtml>, > or subscribe to the RSS > feed< > http://feeds.feedburner.com/CBSNewsTakingLiberties?tag=contentMain%3bcontentAux > >. > You can e-mail Declan at [email protected]. > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:311747 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
