There is more than just a call for more broadband in the Obama internet policy. As if the Patriot Act was not enough, the Obama administration and the law enforcement and intelligence agencies are putting together legislation that will expand federal accessibility to the telecommunications industry. The bill is not anywhere close to done. That said, the surveillance powers of the federal can be dramatically expanded if it does. Basically, it will mean that fewer means of communication will be beyond the all watching eye of Washington.
Obama web regulations
A bill will propose more accessibility for wiretap and monitoring purposes for intelligence and law enforcement officials, according to the New York Times. The White House is on board, and the Obama Internet surveillance bill will likely go to Congress next year. The amount of communications that the federal already has access to is ample, which will expand if the bill passes. Some forms of digital communications are private and encrypted, while many others aren’t secret at all to the government.
Harmful to designers
The disadvantage to restrictions of this sort is that little independent shops have to work double time to keep up with mandates, whereas an already large business can very easily comply. Recent bans of the Blackberry because of the way Research In Motion designed it occurred, over exactly this type of issue. The system keeps emails and other messages encrypted and private, off limits even to the company itself. RIM is in the process of complying with monitoring needs of several governments, and corporations such as Skype and other VOIP, or voice over internet protocol, businesses can have to re-engineer their products to regulatory standards. Law enforcement and intelligence services do rely on monitored communication to catch criminals, and as a result of the decreased access, have seen their capabilities ! 220;going dark” to do their jobs.
Electric ears
There have been many laws passed giving federal the ability to look or listen in. Few methods of communication, except maybe sign language, are exempt. There was a good deal of controversy over the Bush domestic spying program. Obama has not dealt with fears of subversion of civil liberties. Though further potential encroachment on privacy seems almost egregious, there is the security issue to deal with. The federal maintains that it’s not overstepping its bounds in requesting higher accessibility. A greater degree of surveillance may seem a great tool for catching criminals in the act, but can very easily be misused.
Citations
NY Times
nytimes.com/2010/09/27/us/27wiretap.html?pagewanted=1
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