-Caveat Lector- From: Dan S <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/Sunday-Times/stiinnnws01003.html?99 9 - July 4 1999 Surveillance Net operators fear becoming unpaid spies THE internet community is to protest to the Home Office on Tuesday over proposed e-mail and phone-tapping laws they say will turn internet service providers (ISPs) into unpaid spies, writes Sean Hargrave. Representatives from the Internet Service Providers' Association (Ispa) are to meet a delegation of Home Office officials to clarify key parts of a consultation paper that paves the way for a new Interception of Communications Act. The present act became law in 1985, before the advent of e-mail and web browsing, and industry and government agree the legislation needs to be updated. Ispa says the loose wording of the consultation paper will make ISPs legally responsible for maintaining "an interception capability" for police and intelligence services. Tim Pearson, chairman of Ispa, says the government should not expect net companies to spy on their customers at the drop of a hat. "What do they want from us?" he says. "Do they want a junction point where they can plug in their computers and tap an e-mail account, or do they want us to do it for them? "If it's the latter, which is not out of the question, they've got no idea of how much work that would entail. If they are expecting us to listen in to a feed to, say, a large business, and pick out one person's e-mail traffic then they've got no idea of how much hard work that will be. "It would turn ISPs into foot soldiers of the intelligence forces. It would mean an ISP's core competence would no longer be in providing communication services for customers but in untangling those networks for the police." The concern is mirrored in the organisation's pan-European body, Euro-Ispa. Joe McNamee, a spokesman, says: "They just don't realise that tapping a phone is nothing like tapping somebody's online communications. "People can now live their lives online - shopping, buying stocks, talking to friends, watching the news and carrying out research - and so tapping into that is far more intrusive than a phone tap." The net community says the consultation paper should have included improved checks and balances to ensure people are not mistakenly tapped and those who are put under surveillance are informed after the investigation. However, no such improved safeguards have been offered. There is also the question of cost. The Home Office is expecting ISPs to provide and maintain the equipment needed to intercept online communications, while the police will be expected to pick up the cost of individual investigations. Civil-liberties groups are opposed to the consultation paper, not only on the traditional ground of intrusion, but because the new act will still require warrants to be signed by the home secretary, rather than a judge. "The proposals put us in the uncomfortable position of potentially following Russia's draconian lead," says Caspar Bowden, head of the Foundation for Information PolicyResearch. "The replacement for the KGB, the FSB, has put a black box in every ISP, which they can use to tap e-mail accounts. It's a terrible violation of human rights." The Home Office says it is not introducing new powers, but rather updating existing legislation. It does, however, admit that the proposals could cost an ISP many thousands of pounds. The consultation paper can be found at www.homeoffice.gov.uk. 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