“A Senate proposal touted as protecting Americans’ e-mail privacy has been quietly rewritten, giving government agencies more surveillance power than they possess under current law,” Declan McCullagh reports for CNET. “Patrick Leahy, the influential Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, has dramatically reshaped his legislation in response to law enforcement concerns. A vote on his bill, which now authorizes warrantless access to Americans’ e-mail, is scheduled for next week. Leahy’s rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies — including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission — to access Americans’ e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge.”
McCullagh reports, “Christopher Calabrese, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said requiring warrantless access to Americans’ data ‘undercuts’ the purpose of Leahy’s original proposal. ‘We believe a warrant is the appropriate standard for any contents,’ he said… This is a bitter setback for Internet companies and a liberal-conservative-libertarian coalition, which had hoped to convince Congress to update the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act to protect documents stored in the cloud. Leahy glued those changes onto an unrelated privacy-related bill supported by Netflix… Members of the so-called Digital Due Process coalition include Apple, Amazon.com, Americans for Tax Reform, AT&T, the Center for Democracy and Technology, eBay, Google, Facebook, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, TechFreedom, and Twitter.”
“Leahy, a former prosecutor, has a mixed record on privacy. He criticized the FBI’s efforts to require Internet providers to build in backdoors for law enforcement access, and introduced a bill in the 1990s protecting Americans’ right to use whatever encryption products they wanted,” McCullagh reports. “An excerpt from Leahy’s revised legislation authorizing over 22 federal agencies to obtain Americans’ e-mail without a search warrant signed by a judge. Click for larger image.”
“But he also authored the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which is now looming over Web companies, as well as the reviled Protect IP Act. An article in The New Republic concluded Leahy’s work on the Patriot Act “appears to have made the bill less protective of civil liberties.” Leahy had introduced significant portions of the Patriot Act under the name Enhancement of Privacy and Public Safety in Cyberspace Act a year earlier,” McCullagh reports. “One obvious option for the Digital Due Process coalition is the simplest: if Leahy’s committee proves to be an insurmountable roadblock in the Senate, try the courts instead.”
More info in the full article here.
UPDATE: 5:08pm EDT: U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy hits back at report that legislation would decrease Americans’ privacy.
MacDailyNews Take: How much liberty are you willing to squander? When is enough finally enough?
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause…” — Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety – Benjamin Franklin, February 1775
We’d tell you to contact Leahy, but, come on, would it really make any difference? A Democrat in Vermont is slightly less endangered than the cockroach in Queens.
The bill is referred to as “Electronic Communications Privacy Act Amendments Act of 2011“. U.S. citizens, contact your U.S. Senators via email here (have at it anyway concerned Vermonters) and let them know how you feel about this revised bill.
UPDATE: 5:08pm EDT: U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy hits back at report that legislation would decrease Americans’ privacy.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “trevor7578” for the heads up.]
Before this gets too politicised this particular erosion of privacy and civil rights has been going on for decades whoever is in power at the time. “They” have realised that people are now better informed than ever before, with more power to communicate and organise too. That scares the crap out of them, and they want it to stop.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. — Ronald Reagan
“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.” – Ronald Reagan
“Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.” – Ronald Reagan
Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders. — Ronald Reagan
get a room.
Ronnie sure had good speech writers.
One point I like to make is that the the USSR broke up and the Berlin Wall fell because of information. The fax machine, computers in the hands of individuals, copiers, etc.
ronald raygun just happened to be President when it happened.
Even under Reagan civil liberties were being chipped away. As I posted already, this has been going on for decades.
Agreed. I did not support Bush and the “Patriot” Act overreach. I did not support backscatter machines at airports or any of the many erosions of our liberties.
@Dave H
I agree. I think this is all about the government (and those in power) being scared. The whole concept of the internet and the power it can give to the “little people” is something they will want to monitor. Truthfully, this has nothing to do with our security, it is THEIR security they are trying to protect.
….and this is a big problem. Democratic AND Republican.
This must be part of that Hope and Change plan.
Time to go off the grid.
We are stupid and sad.
Goooooooooooood Morning Americanistan!
I’m sure all you useful idiot voters who voted for the Kenyan fraud don’t mind.
I guess in your uberhaste to blame the majority elected prez you missed:
“Patrick Leahy, the influential Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, has dramatically reshaped his legislation in response to law enforcement concerns.”
This rewritten bill hasn’t even been approved by the senate yet, let alone be seen by the President. Typical partisan knee jerk response. T’is ok.
You are a racist idiot…and I am sick of you….there I said …I feel better now….
tyranny.
Anarchy!
No matter who’s in power, they want to concentrate power at the expense of all, and they want to keep that power and suppress the means to take that power away
I trust the government. The government cares about me. The government will provide for me and my family. The government is my Mommy and Daddy. Whatever the government wants is fine with me, no questions asked. The government is always working in my best interest. The government will care for my health as if I was their offspring (if it could have offspring). As long as I can suck a few meager drops off the government teat, I will vote for whatever the government wants to do.
+∞
And I am too dumb and too greedy to realize that what I term “the government” could be better termed “the productive and over-taxed elements of society”.
Dont forget…
The government is my god.
Unregistered cowards.
Clever of the Dems to do this right after the election. Sheep.
“A country that has sheep for citizens deserves the wolves they have for a government.”
An armed person is a citizen, an unarmed person is a subject.
“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.” – Thomas Jefferson
“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” ― Edward R. Murrow
@Ubermac
Very good quotes. Thanks.
In the beginning a patriot is a scarce man, hated and feared and scorned. But in time when his cause succeeds, the timid join him, because then it costs nothing to be patriot.
-Mark Twain
Shit happens.
-Forest, Forest Gump.
This is simply making legal what bush II did illegally. Later BO pardoned the teleco execs for going along.
The Constitution was such a quaint document. Full of all those rights, freedoms, and concepts of liberty. We don’t need that shit anymore because the government will take care of everything for us.
Time to start stocking up on Guy Fawkes masks.
It is always good to remember that the writers of our constitution owned slaves and never intended women to have the vote. They were not a group of Jesus clones who had no selfish interests. They certainly could not have envisioned the world as it exists today. We tend to believe these were all noble and brilliant men. They were not, many were as craven as any politician today. Quoting Reagan is wonderful, but if he were running today he would be left of Obama, he was nothing like the typical good old boy teabagger of today. Study history, turn off FOX news. And wait until you read the bill, CNET gets a lot of things wrong.
Excuse me. I knew Ronald Reagan personally. I have photographs of me with Reagan. Your statement that he would be left of Obama is absurd. Ridiculous. He would be at the forefront of the Tea Party movement today were he still living. I suggest you read Reagan’s letters and speeches as a beginning to your learning history. You’d do we’ll to watch FOX news instead of MSNBC.
The fashionable left are really just crank populists. Scratch the surface and you will find a violent fascist underneath.
Just so you know…
‘Psychological projection’ or ‘projection bias’ is a psychological defense mechanism where a person subconsciously denies his or her own attributes, thoughts, and emotions, which are then ascribed to the outside world, usually to other people. Thus, projection involves imagining or projecting the belief that others originate those feelings
Projection reduces anxiety by allowing the expression of the unwanted unconscious impulses or desires without letting the conscious mind recognize them.
An example of this behavior might be blaming another for self failure.
@warbux
Very good thought. Unfortunately, we are all guilty of this behavior no matter how “smart” we think we are. We spend a lot of time yelling at each other over politics, but maybe we all should spend a little more time yelling at ourselves.
This clearly goes against the Constitution and no American in any political party should support. Let’s not try to force this into the left or right divisive framework.
As a Canadian watching from the sidelines, it seems ironic that as America pushes it’s agenda for freedom and democracy around the world, it at the same time is rescinding the rights of it’s own people.
It’s happening here too. I guess we’re just to stupid to choose for ourselves. Let the bureaucrats decide for us.
That is not an “agenda for freedom and democracy around the world,” it is imperialism designed to enrich defense contractors and international banking.
A little sarcasm maybe?
Of course it’s all about making a buck off the little guy. We’re taxed much higher up here and I’m not willing to give any more so the government can just piss it away. Welcome to the welfare state.
I should say at this rate…continent.
It gets worse everyday.
This will be blamed on George Bush.
United States of America
R.I.P.
1776 – 2012
“Big Jake McCandles! I heard you wuz daid!”
“Not hardly, pilgrim.”
R.I.P.
1776-2008
BO playing his fiddle (and butchering names) in Asia while the world burns.
The difference between 2008 and 2012 is 2012 sealed the death. 2012 confirmed the 47% has become the majority and the fears of the founding fathers have been realized. I sense the hopes and dreams of many have been substituted for birth control and obamaphones..
Slaves and women did not have the right to vote is because by definition they did not own property (ie have a vested interest). The 47% do not have a vested interest and should not be allowed to vote.
Criminals are on welfare and they dont have a right to vote. Think about it.
The Magna Carta and the Constitution were created and brought forth by the rich and educated. The poor and ignorant have taken hostage our freedoms. Unfortunately, our educational system has created many of the poor and ignorant. No more money for education.
Read this all you dumb fuck Oshithead voters
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/democrats-push-to-redeploy-obamas-voter-database/2012/11/20/d14793a4-2e83-11e2-89d4-040c9330702a_story.html
And the put your head up your ass again where you normally keep it.
… and here’s some pleasure reading for you my simian friend:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-25/democratic-presidents-are-better-for-the-economy.html
It is only the criminals who need to worry about privacy. They live in the shadows of the law and want us good people to cower and not bring them to justice. The more the government knows about me, the more they will have to admit that I am a good person.
You’ll love the day the public gets to see you in the restroom, the bedroom, the workplace and every hidey-hole you can imagine. Any data about you can be twisted to bribe, extort or stomp you by crooks who see you in their way of a national, or any level, take over. You either seem to have no insight of the power available to crooks with this bill, or just want to be gullible.
I guess that I live in a Utopia here in Vancouver Canada. We have a different attitude from the US and consequently live more freely than our American cousins. True freedom is achieved by being obedient to the laws of the country and especially the laws of God.
I have been lucky enough to choose to live among law abiding people. Good luck to those of you who want to hide crime and live in fear of everything.
You live in Vancouver! That explains a lot.
A Bible Thumper from The Left Coast. Vancouver, a city so liberal there is a crack seller on almost every downtown street corner.
Paradise, Lotus Land, who needs a job, this city invented social assistance.
Interesting perspective for someone who has never been in Vancouver nor lived there. I am also not a Bible thumper and not even a Christian so that shows you that you don’t have the measure of me yet.
Yep, the riot after the Canucks lost game 7 to Boston in the NHL Finals was a sterling example of your law abiding citizens.
Very embarrassing. We have to own that one.
I’m glad to hear you’re so delusional about the value of privacy! Your suspiciously vocal denial of having anything to shows that you DO have something deep about yourself that you think needs to remain hidden. It’s fortunate that your breed of ignorance is too self-centered and self-destructive to be a serious threat to my rights.
Interesting twist of logic.
I believe it was the East German Stasi who famously said “if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear”. These were the same people that tortured political dissenters and shot people trying to leave the country without official permission.
Government is there to serve the people, not to rule us.
You speak well and I agree completely with you. Criminals do not deserve the same protection from the government.
Nothing to worry about folks the government has your best interests at heart!
keep moving your entire lives to the Cloud.
Nothing to see here. ha!
Revised Senate bill lets feds read your e-mail Without Warrants
Sen. Patrick Leahy’s has reworked his privacy bill H.R. 2471 touted to protect Americans’ e-mail privacy (into a surveillance bill) that will allow the FBI, police and more than 22 federal agencies without probable cause or warrant to access Americans’ private email and other communications –-using only a subpoena. Alleged seized evidence may be introduced in court against Americans in U.S. Civil; Criminal and Administrative prosecutions. Police and federal agencies can take out of context any innocent—hastily written email, fax or phone call record to allege a crime or violation was committed to cause a person’s arrest, fines and or civil asset forfeiture of their property. There are more than 350 laws/violations that can subject property to Government forfeiture that require only a civil preponderance of evidence.
Some idiot might send you an email that appears to include you as a participant in a crime or conspiracy: the Feds can without a warrant introduce that email as evidence in court against you or your business. A Senate vote on Sen. Patrick Leahy’s warrant-less access bill is scheduled before November 30, 2012.
A corrupt U.S. Government Administration or agency may without a warrant or probable cause search the email of any American or corporation politically at odds with the U.S. Government. Hitler used his Gestapo to target for blackmail, arrest and asset forfeiture, German Citizens and Corporations that opposed the Nazi party.
The U.S. “Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000” (effectively eliminated) the “five year statue of limitations” for Government Civil Asset Forfeiture: the statute now runs five years (from the date) government or a police agency allege they “learned” an asset became subject to forfeiture. It is foreseeable should (no warrant) government electronic surveillance be allowed; police will relentlessly sift through business and Citizens’ (government retained Internet data), emails and phone communications to discover possible criminal or civil violations.
Under U.S. federal civil asset forfeiture laws, a person or business need not be charged with a crime for government to forfeit their property. Most U.S. Citizens, property and business owners that defend their assets against Government Civil Asset Forfeiture claim an “innocent owner defense.” This defense can become a criminal prosecution trap for both guilty and innocent property owners. Any fresh denial of guilt made to government when questioned about committing a crime “even when you did not do the crime” may (involuntarily waive) a defendant’s right to assert in their defense—the “Criminal Statute of Limitations” past for prosecution; any fresh denial of guilt even 30 years after a crime was committed may allow U.S. Government prosecutors to use old and new evidence, including information discovered during Civil Asset Forfeiture Proceedings to launch a criminal prosecution. For that reason: many innocent Americans, property and business owners are reluctant to defend their property and businesses against Government Civil Asset Forfeiture.
Annually U.S. Government seizes Billions in assets without filing criminal charges. Increasingly local police are turning their criminal investigations over to Federal Agencies to receive an 80% rebate of forfeited assets. Federal Government is not required to charge anyone with a crime to forfeit property.
Re: waiving Criminal Statute of Limitations: see USC18, Sec.1001, James Brogan V. United States.
N0.96-1579. U.S. See paragraph (6) at:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/96-1579.ZC1.html
Can Canadians Hold Out Against Their Government’s Forceful Efforts to Wiretap Their Lives?
It was recently reported: the Canadian Government intends to resurrect (Commons Bill C-30) that Canadians earlier this year rejected. Canadians discovered that (Commons Bill C-30) touted to protect children on the Internet—would also give any Canadian police officer—without a warrant—the power to request Internet service providers turn over customers’ information (see section 17 of C-30); allow Canadian police to seek into Canadians’ private computers. C-30 was strongly opposed by Canadians in April 2012. Canadians further discovered Canada had signed with the United States an array of (Asset Forfeiture Sharing Agreements) for Canada to share Canadian and Americans’ assets civilly or criminally confiscated using Asset Forfeiture laws that result from U.S. and Canada sharing information gleaned from electronic surveillance of Canadian / American Citizens’ communications, e.g., emails, faxes, Internet actively, phone records.
You may read more about Sen. Patrick Leahy’s reworked his privacy bill H.R. 2471 at CNET:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57552225-38/senate-bill-rewrite-lets-feds-read-your-e-mail-without-warrants/?tag=nl.e703&s_cid=e703
Yep, and a supine, ass-licking British government, led by Princess Blair, saw a law passed that allows the US to extradite any UK citizen based on the merest hint of wrong-doing, and the above, posted by Rwolf, would pretty much allow them to invent anything they want, just to get a suitable patsy.
The Constitution is a dead letter. Give up on it. Nobody in the official world cares anymore. It is routine to simply ignore the Constitution and do whatever you feel like, knowing full well that odds are great that nothing will ever happen to you.
The mechanism is for the Supreme Court to say over and over that whatever you read there doesn’t mean what you think it does. It may as well be written in a dead language. Everything is being reinterpreted to allow fascism and dictatorship.
There will be a lot of noise right up until martial law takes over and they out all the “constitutionals” and imprison them indefinitely. Get ready for it.
Yep, those who expected the Constitution to hang by a thread got to see it. Whether the thread broke or not, I dont know.
The ironic thing, those from the “love” or “Woodstock” generation that wanted to be left alone to do what they wanted are now the ones in charge controlling everybody else.
Seems the typical political complainers and whackos are coming out of the woodwork for this one.