Feds may update wiretap law for e-mail By Ted Bridis, WSJ Interactive Edition July 18, 2000 6:58 AM PT URL: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2604731,00.html?chkpt=zdhpnews01 WASHINGTON -- The White House is urging changes in U.S. law to make it easier for authorities to eavesdrop on Internet communications such as e-mail, updating what the government described as wiretap laws written for an earlier era. The administration said that the changes would enhance legal privacy protections because they would require, for example, approval by senior Justice Department officials before the Federal Bureau of Investigation could use software surveillance, such as its "Carnivore" system. That approval already is required in cases where law enforcement wants to monitor telephone conversations. The changes require U.S. judges to suppress electronic evidence obtained by illegal wiretap; current law mandates suppression in such circumstances of only oral or written communications, not e-mail. The proposals were all made by the Justice Department in a March study that identified what the government said were deficiencies in enforcing laws against crimes on the Internet. The American Civil Liberties Union said the White House announcement was "deeply disappointing," because it did not include any promise to suspend use of Carnivore, which the group charged gives the government "unsupervised access to a nearly unlimited amount of communications traffic." Proposal 'makes sense' The Internet Alliance, a Washington trade group for Internet providers, said the White House proposals "make sense," but also warned that its member companies "should not be deputized," spokesman Jeff Richards said. The proposals were announced at the same time that the administration relaxed restrictions on the export of powerful encryption technology to the European Union and to Australia, Norway, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland. White House Chief of Staff John Podesta said the change, which will benefit some U.S. hardware and software firms, was not offered in exchange for the high-technology industry's support of the White House wiretap proposals. "We've never tried to link those two," he said. The White House also sought to give authorities undisputed access to the Internet traffic of roughly 2.2 million consumers using cable modems. And it proposed making it easier for police to obtain court orders to trace the transmission and receipt of Internet data nationwide without asking permission from a judge in every jurisdiction the data passes through. Another change would give judges greater latitude in denying those requests. But in extraordinary cases, such as an attack by hackers, the FBI could perform tracing, then obtain court approval as much as 48 hours later. Legal dispute A legal dispute continues between Internet providers and law enforcement. The nation's cable Internet providers have argued that they are not required under the U.S. Cable Act to turn over subscriber information without giving customers the opportunity to fight the disclosure in court. However, the Justice Department argues it is entitled to cable Internet data under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act without warning the customer in advance about its proposed surveillance. U.S. District Judge J. Young of Boston called the dispute "a thorny and important issue" in a case last year, in which he ordered an unidentified cable Internet provider to turn over the customer's records. Judge Young acknowledged that his decision should not be read too broadly, saying that it was "not the day to resolve such ephemeral puzzles." Podesta said the administration's proposals would continue to prohibit disclosure of which broadcasts a cable customer views on television. With only weeks left before Congress adjourns, the administration is asking Congress to approve its proposals, though Podesta predicted, "we can work to get them done this year." Variations of some proposals already are in competing bills in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
