Posted on 01/30/2012 11:16:54 AM PST by John Semmens
Representative John Mizuno (D-Oahu) is sponsoring a bill that would require all web sites to keep records of who visits their sites.
“The government has a right to know who is reading/viewing what,” Mizuno insisted. “A lot of the stuff on the Internet is not supportive of the government’s efforts to provide a safer and better life for the people. This could inspire mentally unbalanced persons to take dangerous actions that could interfere with these goals. We need to be able to spot this in advance if we are to avert an unwelcome turn of events.”
The bill is opposed by the U.S. Internet Service Provider Association, whose CEO, Kate Dean, cited its violation of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches. “There’s no provision in this bill requiring the state to show probable cause and obtain a warrant in order to secure access,” Dean maintained. “It pretty much gives the police the authority to poke its nose into anyone’s business whenever it chooses.”
While conceding computer users concern over potential loss of privacy, Mizuno called their fears “overwrought. Look, if you’re not doing anything wrong you’ll have nothing to fear from the State. It’s only the people exhibiting wrongful intent that we’re trying to interdict.”
Mizuno defended the compilation of dossiers on “persons of interest” as “precautionary in nature. We can’t be certain from where future threats may arise. Having a file on potential troublemakers could prove invaluable. In fact, it’s possible that if people know we have the capacity to compile these dossiers that by itself may serve to deter them from getting crosswise with governing authorities.”
if you missed any of this week's other semi-news posts you can find them at...
http://azconservative.org/2012/01/28/president-irked-at-governors-show-of-disrespect/
Most sites actually do log access, because it is turned on by default in Apache, and it is useful if you want to know if the users are getting errors.
Can’t have anyone talking about their favorite son, huh. Just an extension of Hussein’s report your neighbor to the WH.
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