Forwarded from Dave Farber's "Interesting People" list. ------- Start of forwarded message ------- Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2000 18:16:51 -0500 From: Dave Farber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: IP: Proposed US military budget will fund domestic wiretapping >http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34164,00.html > > Clinton's Wiretap-Heavy Budget > by Declan McCullagh ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > > 1:25 p.m. 7.Feb.2000 PST > WASHINGTON -- President Clinton's > proposed $1.84 trillion budget includes > millions of dollars in new spending on > technology and law enforcement > programs. > > The record budget request for the 2001 > fiscal year, which begins 1 October, asks > Congress for more money for wiretapping, > police databases, antitrust enforcement, > and computer crime forensics. > > One of the heftiest increases, from $15 > million to $240 million, will pay telephone > companies to rewire their networks to > facilitate federal and state wiretapping. > Under the 1994 Communications > Assistance to Law Enforcement Act > (CALEA), Congress may "reimburse" phone > companies for their efforts, but the > controversial process is the subject of a > lawsuit currently before a federal appeals > court. > > Half of that money, $120 million, will come > from the Department of Defense's > "national security" budget -- a move that > alarms privacy groups. > > "The proposal to use thinly disguised > intelligence agency money to fund CALEA > confirms what we have suspected all > along: the National Security Agency is a > silent partner in the government's > campaign to make our entire > telecommunications system, including the > Net, wiretap ready," says Barry > Steinhardt, associate director of the > American Civil Liberties Union. > > [...] ------- End of forwarded message -------
