As if human/animal hybrids aren't enough to worry about...
the FCC has just proposed that all new electronic communications devices be made with a "back door" to allow "law enforcement" access. It is an extension of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). Vendors will have 18 months to comply.
What's worse:
There are several problems with this rule. First is the obvious massive intrusion into all of our privacy. Second, says Templeton, is the way that the rule will stifle innovation. According to the Washington Post, he claims that the rule will "require that people get permission to innovate" would create "regulatory barriers to entry." He adds "The FBI gets veto on new companies."
Among the other problems cited (aside from the unconstitutionality of it all) is that leaving backdoors is an invitation to hackers to invade your privacy as well.
More in extended...
From the
Washington Post article cited above:
Among the politicians opposing the FCC's Internet wiretap plan is Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the chief sponsor of the original CALEA legislation. Leahy says the Internet was explicitly excluded from the law's surveillance rules, with the understanding that the exclusion could be revisited. However, he claims that extending CALEA to the Internet of today is counter to the intention of Congress.
Appearantly this is another example of the Bush Admin overreaching and the tradtional media being asleep at the wheel.
The good news is this is being brought to court:
The EFF, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the COMPTEL association of communications service providers, and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a brief last week with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to try and stop the FCC.
Ahhhh... the Bush Administration... so fine, I never see ya leavin' by the back door...