Posted on 10/19/2010 5:15:37 AM PDT by Hoodat
WASHINGTON Law enforcement and counterterrorism officials, citing lapses in compliance with surveillance orders, are pushing to overhaul a federal law that requires phone and broadband carriers to ensure that their networks can be wiretapped, federal officials say.
The officials say tougher legislation is needed because some telecommunications companies in recent years have begun new services and made system upgrades that create technical obstacles to surveillance. They want to increase legal incentives and penalties aimed at pushing carriers like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast to ensure that any network changes will not disrupt their ability to conduct wiretaps.
An Obama administration task force that includes officials from the Justice and Commerce Departments, the F.B.I. and other agencies recently began working on draft legislation to strengthen and expand a 1994 law requiring carriers to make sure their systems can be wiretapped. There is not yet agreement over the details, according to officials familiar with the deliberations, but they said the administration intends to submit a package to Congress next year.
To bolster their case, security agencies are citing two previously undisclosed episodes in which major carriers were stymied for weeks or even months when they tried to comply with court-approved wiretap orders in criminal or terrorism investigations, the officials said. . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
ping-a-ling
ROFL! It’s insane, isn’t it.
BTW, let’s make sure that writing your own diary in code is made a federal offense.
All government employees and officials, elected or not, should be wired with cameras and microphones at all times and their activities transmitted on the Internet 24/7 so that we citizens can be sure that THEY are not breaking the law.
What's good for the goose...
Amazing isn’t it? Not one peep from the left now that their fuhrer is in charge.
If Islam is peaceful why the wiretaps?
This was a big complaint liberals had when Bush was in.
If Islam is peaceful why the wiretaps?
This was a big complaint liberals had when Bush was in.
It’s Americans he’s wiretapping - not foreign muslims.
I meant it as a joke. Sorry.
This really should be bigger news.
Repost?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.