So why am I reading in a CNET story that FBI Director Robert Mueller “seemed to suggest that the bureau should have a broad ‘omnibus’ authority to conduct monitoring and surveillance of private-sector networks,” not just accesses to federal sites?
No, the U.S. isn’t yet the old USSR, but in regard to the Internet, e-books and other matters, we seem to be slowly moving in that direction.
Among e-book devices, the Kindle continues to bear special watching—by citizens. Amazon insists on authorization to obtain data on “information related to the content on your Device.” Some accidental help for federal snoops someday, not just for marketers or anti-piracy efforts?
The special case of the wireless Kindle—as fodder for censors and snoops
What’s more, because the Kindle has wireless capabilities, there’s the possibility that someday the FCC might take an interest in content there, as has been pointed out by Ronald K.L. Collins, a respected First Amendment scholar.
He wonders if “the FCC could one day go after e-books like, say, The Essential Lenny Bruce or an illustrated version of D.H. Lawrence’s novel Women in Love—to protect our children, of course. That such e-book censorship would abridge our First Amendment freedom might not stay the regulatory hand of those determined to fight ‘filth.'” Along the way, how about the related issue of letting the feds snoop on your e-book reading via monitoring of wireless activity, even if Amazon won’t go along?
Buy that Kindle or other e-gizmo if you want—but follow The Issues
I not telling you here to avoid buying a Kindle or to shun e-books in general. Just be aware that if you live in the United States, you have an interest in the civil liberties debates now happening in D.C.
Other threats: Might it be possible that the FBI would request authority to scan Gmail and similar services? The e-book area is hardly the only one to be watched.
Related: Transcript of Mueller’s relevant remarks. Notice. The big attention is on computer security, presumably in a terrorism context? But what’s next? Porn? And then innocent political activity? As shown by the experiences of the Nixon years, lines can blur once the snoops set up shop. Nearly a quarter of a century after 1984 the year and many decades after the writing of the book, George Orwell‘s warnings remains relevant.
Technorati Tags: Civil liberties,FBI,Federal Bureau of Investigations,Robert Mueller,Stalin,Joseph Stalin,USSR,Soviet Union,former Soviet Union,Orwell,1984
They don’t have to give amazon a warrant. They’re grabbing all Net traffic as it is. Hell, they can come into your home without a warrant and plant a keylogger on your PC.
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/04/25/a-reminder-from-the-past/
But, Mike, focusing on Amazon, Gmail, etc., would probably still be more efficient. Meanwhile one wonders if Norton and friends have agreed to avoid letting FBI keylogger programs show up in security scans. Thanks. David
This is one of the big reasons that I bought a Cybook instead.