Re: F.B.I. Given Broad Authority to Monitor the Public

2002-05-31 Thread Bill Stewart

 F.B.I. Given Broad Authority to Monitor the Public
 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General John Ashcroft on Thursday
  gave the FBI broad new authority to monitor Internet sites,
  libraries, churches and political organizations,
  calling restrictions on domestic spying ``a competitive advantage for 
 terrorists.''

Maybe I'm missing something fundamental here, but where does
either Ashcroft or Bush have the ability to give the FBI any authority?
The Constitution can give the executive branch authority for things,
or Congress can legislate authority if it's Constitutional,
or the courts can rule that existing statutory or Constitutional
authority extends to some use the executive branch wants to make of it,
or the Commander In Chief can tell the military to do military things
authorized by Congress under declarations of war or other statutes,
but that's not what the politicians and their pet press agencies are saying.

If Ashcroft wants his underlings to monitor the internet,
TCP/IP will let him do lots of things, and Bugs will let him do more,
but if he needs cooperation from ISPs or other online service or
content providers, his choices are either subpoenas or extortion.
And if he wants them to investigate churches, I'd recommend that he
first try being as fundamentalist about the Constitution as he is
about his personal religious views, and see if that leaves him any room
for bothering them.

  http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-FBI-Reorganizing.html

Which AP was that again, and how long have they been online?  :-)




Re: F.B.I. Given Broad Authority to Monitor the Public

2002-05-31 Thread Bill Stewart

 F.B.I. Given Broad Authority to Monitor the Public
 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General John Ashcroft on Thursday
  gave the FBI broad new authority to monitor Internet sites,
  libraries, churches and political organizations,
  calling restrictions on domestic spying ``a competitive advantage for 
 terrorists.''

Maybe I'm missing something fundamental here, but where does
either Ashcroft or Bush have the ability to give the FBI any authority?
The Constitution can give the executive branch authority for things,
or Congress can legislate authority if it's Constitutional,
or the courts can rule that existing statutory or Constitutional
authority extends to some use the executive branch wants to make of it,
or the Commander In Chief can tell the military to do military things
authorized by Congress under declarations of war or other statutes,
but that's not what the politicians and their pet press agencies are saying.

If Ashcroft wants his underlings to monitor the internet,
TCP/IP will let him do lots of things, and Bugs will let him do more,
but if he needs cooperation from ISPs or other online service or
content providers, his choices are either subpoenas or extortion.
And if he wants them to investigate churches, I'd recommend that he
first try being as fundamentalist about the Constitution as he is
about his personal religious views, and see if that leaves him any room
for bothering them.

  http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-FBI-Reorganizing.html

Which AP was that again, and how long have they been online?  :-)




Re: F.B.I. Given Broad Authority to Monitor the Public

2002-05-31 Thread Tim May

On Friday, May 31, 2002, at 02:12  AM, Bill Stewart wrote:
 If Ashcroft wants his underlings to monitor the internet,
 TCP/IP will let him do lots of things, and Bugs will let him do more,
 but if he needs cooperation from ISPs or other online service or
 content providers, his choices are either subpoenas or extortion.
 And if he wants them to investigate churches, I'd recommend that he
 first try being as fundamentalist about the Constitution as he is
 about his personal religious views, and see if that leaves him any room
 for bothering them.

An amusing social hack might be for some of the more clean-cut folks 
(not me) to show up in various churches and political groups and 
_appear_ to be agents investigating and observing the churches. Perhaps 
the careless display of a tape recorder, perhaps a small earpiece, and 
certainly the black shoes and conservative garb of an agent. Or the 
phony attempting to blend in look of a agent. But too much subtlety 
might not be good...better to just freak them out directly.

This could freak out the Moonies, the Quakers, the ACLU, and so on. A 
few hundred fake Men in Black could really unleash some paranoia.

Don't _tell_ people one is an agent, for multiple reasons (might be 
illegal to claim to be a Fed, for one thing). But make them nervous. 
Make them wonder what the hell has become of limited government and 
freedom of association and religion when narcs from Big Brother are 
sitting in on their ceremonies taking notes and making recordings.

Of course, don't do this at any kind of militant group, which may take 
forcible steps to eject suspected narcs...or worse.

--Tim May
How we burned in the prison camps later thinking: What would things 
have been like if every security operative, when he went out at night to 
make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive? 
--Alexander Solzhenitzyn, Gulag Archipelago




F.B.I. Given Broad Authority to Monitor the Public

2002-05-30 Thread keyser-soze

Get ready for the shit storm.

I'm making a list, checking it twice, gonna found who's tree gets watered tonight...

F.B.I. Given Broad Authority to Monitor the Public
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General John Ashcroft on Thursday gave the FBI broad new 
authority to monitor Internet sites, libraries, churches and political organizations, 
calling restrictions on domestic spying ``a competitive advantage for terrorists.''

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-FBI-Reorganizing.html



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F.B.I. Given Broad Authority to Monitor the Public

2002-05-30 Thread keyser-soze

Get ready for the shit storm.

I'm making a list, checking it twice, gonna found who's tree gets watered tonight...

F.B.I. Given Broad Authority to Monitor the Public
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General John Ashcroft on Thursday gave the FBI broad new 
authority to monitor Internet sites, libraries, churches and political organizations, 
calling restrictions on domestic spying ``a competitive advantage for terrorists.''

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-FBI-Reorganizing.html



Hush provide the worlds most secure, easy to use online applications - which solution 
is right for you?
HushMail Secure Email http://www.hushmail.com/
HushDrive Secure Online Storage http://www.hushmail.com/hushdrive/
Hush Business - security for your Business http://www.hush.com/
Hush Enterprise - Secure Solutions for your Enterprise http://www.hush.com/

Looking for a good deal on a domain name? 
http://www.hush.com/partners/offers.cgi?id=domainpeople