posted on December 22, 2002 07:38:18 PM
This is from the New York Times. They have a free log-in, which you can make up spam-proof info for..the url is below it and I clipped a piece here...It's getting scarier all the time...
Bush Administration to Propose System for Monitoring Internet
By JOHN MARKOFF and JOHN SCHWARTZ
The Bush administration is planning to propose requiring Internet service providers to help build a centralized system to enable broad monitoring of the Internet and, potentially, surveillance of its users.
The proposal is part of a final version of a report, "The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace," set for release early next year, according to several people who have been briefed on the report. It is a component of the effort to increase national security after the Sept. 11 attacks..................
Stewart Baker, a Washington lawyer who represents some of the nation's largest Internet providers, said, "Internet service providers are concerned about the privacy implications of this as well as liability," since providing access to live feeds of network activity could be interpreted as a wiretap or as the "pen register" and "trap and trace" systems used on phones without a judicial order.
posted on December 22, 2002 10:51:33 PM
Borillar, I don't see how the U.S. government can control content of the internet world-wide. They don't have jurisdiction over ISPs located in foreign countries.
Or, are you suggesting your government might block internet content in other countries from reaching the U.S.?
posted on December 22, 2002 11:05:16 PM
>Or, are you suggesting your government might block internet content in other countries from reaching the U.S.?
I have no idea how you came to that conclusion, Irene. They, those who are proposing this new system, are vague on explanations on not just what they want to accomplish, but how they intend on going about it. So I could not even begin to guess at the technical details involved and how that would be used internationally. Digging around on the Internet has only revealed what is called "pattern matching software" that would allow real time reading of all of everyone's email, instant messages, and file transfers for keywords and phrases.
posted on December 22, 2002 11:09:24 PM
They don't have to "control" the Internet--simply monitor what people are saying & go after those who say stuff they don't like. Already they don't have to announce charges against people they arrest, give the names of people they arrest or allow them council, and can keep them incarcerated without charges as long as they like. Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there --Clare Booth Luce
posted on December 23, 2002 01:25:50 PM
Thanks for that link, prof!
I'd much rather see cybersecurity approached from the software side of things. By that, I mean, if operating systems and servers would have better security measures ingrained in them at purchase time, rather than as questionable add-ons at the user's discretion, then there would be no need for government spyware everywhere. Government in this case is NOT the solution!
I think that every operating system sold should have anti-virus software built-in, a firewall that protects in both directions, and anti-spyware software, like LavaSoft's As-Aware built-in. AnalogX's free real-time display of data going in and out of your pc -- which does not show up on other programs quite often, BTW. There are a lot fo other things that could and in my opinion should be comlletely integrated into the operating system software. Microsoft, IBM, Apple, Sun, Oracle, etc could certainly be required to go the extra mileage in order to preserve the saftey of users on the internet.
>start learning about proxies...
Prof, do you mean the random-proxy/anonymizers like ZoneAlarm's Anonymizer
posted on December 23, 2002 07:06:31 PM
The anonymizing websites are better than nothing, although those sites still know who their clients are (by virtue of your IP address) and are bound to give up that information in the event of a subpoena, not only that, you can't be sure of who's running them and how much they log activity. SafeWeb, which was a popular anonymizer until about a year ago, and offered a free web anonymizing service, was heavily invested in by the CIA!! ..better to use an open proxy server in another country and configure your machine yourself...the problem there is you have to search those servers out, and they don't stay up very long. Java Anon Proxy is a program set up and run by a German university. You download and install their program and configure your browser for proxy surfing, and a secure tunnel is set up between you and their servers. Your page requests go thru a series of servers, each of which cannot identify you, before coming back to you. All your ISP can log is the address of the mix server you are connected to. It does not see and cannot log where you went from there. With Java and active content turned off in your browser, web sites you visit cannot identify you. Your IP number shows as the number of the proxy server in Germany. It does slow down surfing a little, but not as much as Anonymizer...Anonymizer also requires that Java be turned on, which in IE is a pretty big security issue. Sorry I got so long winded, here's the link..JAP as it is called is in beta and is free, tiny and not spyware....looks like a legitimate academic exercise in internet security..see what you think...their site and servers do go down about once a week for maintenace, so if you don't get there first try again.
