Internet Censorship

Beginning of the End for the Internet in the UK

November 20, 2009

Download Squad - Often lauded as the ‘CCTV state’ and ‘the most surveilled country in the world’, the UK may soon deliver a killing blow to the Internet as we know it. Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing is reporting some leaked legislation from the UK government that would remove any kind of freedom or privacy that the Internet grants its users.

The proposed amendments to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act would allow the Secretary of State (or ‘Pirate-Finder General’) to alter the law on an ad-hoc basis without approval by Parliament (the UK’s Senate).

Cory goes on to site the potential repercussions of these proposed changes:

1. Immediate remedies for copyright infringement — jail sentences and removal of Internet access can be meted out purely at the discretion of an unelected official (that is most likely under the sway and pay of media lobby groups).

2. The raising of pirate-hunting militia — the Secretary of State could “confer rights” to music labels and movie studios to help them protect their works. It would be within the rights of the copyright owners to compel ISPs, schools and businesses to hand over details of those using their network for ‘nefarious’ purposes.

3. Pirate-hunting duties could be forced upon ISPs — not merely content with perusing ISP records, the Secretary of State could force ISPs to act as gatekeepers. You can imagine how it might impact your surfing experience if a copyright lawyer is forced to peruse each and every one of your emails to check for plagiarism…

Cory goes on to cite other implications, but you should probably just go and read the article itself. And as he says, if you’re a Brit, or even if you know a Brit — this is serious news. You can’t really expect something like this to make it through government… but really… who knows?

Ultrasecret NSA Has Conspicuous Role in New Federal Cybersecurity Center

October 30, 2009

Newsweek - Congress and civil libertarians have always been twitchy about involving the ultrasecretive National Security Agency—masters of electronic spying—more deeply in domestic security matters. Revelations that George W. Bush authorized the NSA (Motto: Never Say Anything) in the wake of 9/11 to expand warrantless electronic eavesdropping on Americans caused heartburn for both intelligence officials and private industry.

Dragged into the controversy were phone companies and Internet service providers who took part in the program, although Congress later passed legislation that both tweaked and largely ratified Bush administration practices. (Congress gave retroactive immunity from civil lawsuits to private firms that collaborated.)

If anything, the Obama administration, citing the threats of computer hacking and cyberterrorism, is now moving to involve the NSA more deeply in domestic security issues. The growing role of the NSA—a Defense Department agency with thousands of military personnel—in domestic matters was on semi-public display on Friday.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano visited a nondescript office complex in Arlington, Va., for the formal opening of a new high-tech command post called the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC, pronounced "en-kick").

The facility is officially described as “a 24-hour, DHS-led coordinated watch and warning center that will improve national efforts to address threats and incidents affecting the nation’s critical information technology and cyber infrastructure.” The NSA’s official seal was displayed prominently on a big-screen graphic listing the center’s participants. The NSA’s director, Army Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, was among the dignitaries standing at Napolitano’s side as she formally cut a ribbon inaugurating the facility, which, without its spooky graphics and tight security cordon, would look like a large newsroom or trading floor equipped with rows of computer workstations.

In keeping with the NSA’s character, Alexander wasn’t exactly bubbling with good cheer when Declassified asked him what his agency’s role would be in operating the cybersecurity command post. “We support DHS [Homeland Security] like everybody else,” is all the general would say.

In introductory remarks, officials noted that Alexander has also been tapped by the Pentagon to head U.S. Cyber Command, a new military organization to be based alongside the NSA at Fort Meade, Md., that is intended to consolidate and improve cybersecurity and, presumably, cyberwarfare capabilities. Other officials were vague when asked for more details on the NSA’s role in NCCIC, whose principal mission, according to Homeland Security officials, will be to monitor and assure the security and safety of civilian-government computer networks and to provide early warning to private businesses about cyber-attack threats...