FBI Pushing Plan to Force Surveillance Backdoors on Social Networks, Web Email Providers and VOIP

The FBI wants Internet companies to support a proposal that would require firms like Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance. If passed, these ompanies would have to provide the bureau with decryption tools to make sense of the information that it captures.

The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) already provides assistance to law enforcement by requiring that they cooperate with police in order to conduct lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance.  The FCC extended CALEA in 2004 to apply to broadband providers, but web companies are not covered under this law.  

Of course, once again, it's all in the name of national security and public safety.

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Domestic Spy Program Bigger than White House Admitted

The top intelligence official, Mike McConnell, Director of National Intelligence, for the Bush Administration has admitted that the domestic surveillance program created after 9/11 was only a small part of a program that had much broader implications than President Bush was willing to disclose initially.

"Bush acknowledged the existence of a program that monitored domestic phone calls and e-mails without court oversight in December 2005. The administration has not confirmed other secret spying efforts reported by news outlets, such as one that searched millions of telephone records."

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Bush Calls For Easier Wiretap Rules

Mr. Bush is calling for Congress to revise FISA in order to ease restrictions on the government's secret communications surveillance of terror suspects. Bush is urging legislators to pass FISA reform at the same time that Alberto Gonzales is being accused of lying regarding the firing of US attorneys and Mr. Gonzales handling of the government's secret warrantless wiretap program to monitor suspect electronic communications to and from the United States without first obtaining warrants from a special secret FISA court.

The White House's proposed reform would loosen restrictions on tapping into emails, phone calls and other communications inside the country and possibly allow the US to freely tap into international communications routed through the United States. It will also protect telecommunications companies who cooperate in the effort. Several major companies have been sued for helping with the wiretaps.

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