Scary things comming for the internet - Britain to set up Internet monitoring center

[Geonwoshill]

The article follows below, been hearing a lot of stuff about the future of the internet or the internet ending without a lot of evidence either way. This legislation pending in Britain may give some idea of what the future of the internet may be. Not shut down but highly controlled with the government having access to you personal data.

Britain to set up Internet monitoring center

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press

LONDON (May 10, 2000 9:44 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - To
civil libertarians, it smacks of Big Brother.com. The British
government plans to set up a multimillion-dollar spy center capable of
tracking every e-mail and Internet hit in the country - a move it says
will help fight cybercrime, but which civil libertarians contend
heralds the arrival of an Orwellian state.

The new cyber-snooping base, which will bear the unassuming title of
Government Technical Assistance Center, reportedly will be housed
within the fortress-like London headquarters of the MI5 spy agency.

It will be established as part of the Regulation of Investigatory
Powers Bill, expected to become law this fall.

"We regard it as an outrageous piece of legislation," said Yaman
Akdeniz, director of the watchdog group Cyber-Rights and Cyber
Liberties.

As part of the bill, Internet service providers will have to establish
secure channels to transmit information about Internet traffic to the
government cyber-center.

The bill also gives law enforcement authorities the power to demand
that Internet users hand over the keys to decode encrypted messages.
Encryption is commonly used by business and in e-commerce transactions
to protect credit card numbers and other sensitive information.

Civil liberties groups argue the legislation sets a sinister precedent
by requiring individuals and companies to prove they cannot hand over
encryption keys or face prosecution.

"The bill creates a new offense - not providing this information to
the government," Akdeniz said. "It will be incompatible with the
European Convention on Human Rights in terms of self-incrimination and
a switch in the burden of proof."

The legislation is wending its way through Parliament, but the
government already has established a so-called encryption coordination
unit to oversee creation of the $40 million spy center.

The government argues the bill protects individual rights, setting out
strict conditions under which law enforcement agencies can demand keys
to unlock encrypted data or intercept records of Internet traffic.

"The bill does not give the authorities any new powers to obtain
material which they cannot already do," said Home Office Minister
Charles Clarke, the Cabinet minister responsible for the project.

"Accusations that the bill reverses the burden of proof are simply
wrong. Innocent people are not going to suffer under these proposals."

Although authorities must obtain a warrant before demanding access to
information, critics argue the grounds for getting one are vague. In
addition, they say warrants should be issued by judges instead of by
Cabinet ministers, as provided for by the bill.

Internet service providers have expressed concerns about the cost to
the industry of complying with the new regulations - estimated at $32
million - and of the vagueness of the rules.

Some predict the new rules will also scare Internet users away from
encryption technology, dealing a blow to the government's stated aim
of making Britain a hotbed of e-commerce.

"Everything in the bill is a little bit undefined," said Roland Perry,
regulation officer for the London Internet Exchange, a grouping of
some 100 service providers.

"Who needs to sign the bits of paper, what they might be requesting -
there's a national standard for that negotiated between industry and
law enforcement, and if we're not careful this bill might throw all
that away," he said.

While countries like China and Singapore monitor their citizens'
Internet use, Akdeniz says the British government's move is
unprecedented in Europe.

"Of course, the government has to improve law enforcement techniques
and adapt to information technology," he said. "But that doesn't mean
they have to turn it into an Orwellian state. We are moving toward Big
Brother."

Britain's Internet service providers already must tread more carefully
than their counterparts in some other parts of the world, including
the United States.

In March, Internet service provider Demon Internet Ltd. apologized and
agreed to pay damages in an out-of-court settlement with a man who
said he was libeled by items posted on a Web site.

The case was seen as setting a precedent that service providers could
be considered publishers and held responsible for information
transmitted on their networks.

In the United States, by contrast, the Supreme Court ruled this month
that service providers are not legally and financially liable when
someone is defamed in e-mail communications or bulletin board
messages.

[Steve Lee]

That's not half as scary as what the Fox News Channel is planning on doing to, Click Undelined Link: End The Free Internet In The US

[I811st]

If a dildo like Al Gore can Invent the internet , why give the Government the pleasure of destroying it? I say we take it down ourselves! lets BOMB it! Blow it up and hack it to bits, or bytes , or whatever they are fuckin' called.

[youhavetoforgiveme]

"The bill does not give the authorities any new powers to obtain material which they cannot already do," said Home Office Minister Charles Clarke, the Cabinet minister responsible for the project.

Okay Mr. Clarke, if this bill doesn't do any of that, then why are you writing it??? Why do I feel a stiletto poised at my ribs, ready to strike and twist???

[Anti Oligarch]

This surveillance has been in operation at least 2 - 3 years.
Now they're just letting people know that they can arrest
anybody any time for any reason.

[Greg aka Sonatadude]

Good post Geo, even more of a reason for people to keep their wits about themselves on social networks and chatrooms.