Last session, Congresswoman Diana Degette (CO-01) advanced an amendment (.pdf) to the Communications Act that required "each provider of Internet access services to retain records to permit the identification of subscribers to such services to appropriate law enforcement purposes."
It defined 'internet access service' as "a service that allows users to access content, information, electronic mail, or other services over the internet, and may include access to proprietary content, information, and other services as part of a package of services offered to consumers.
Now that she has been appointed to the post of Vice-Chair of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee that oversees all actions related to the Constitution's Commerce Clause, including telecommunications, I asked her today if she intended to revist the idea and if the language would be as sweeping as it was in the original legislation.
Prefacing her remarks with the statement that her amendment had been "grossly mischaracterized on the internet," DeGette verified that in the interest of stemming the abuse of minors over the internet she was in the process of drafting legislation this session that would require the collection of identifying information on millions of internet users.
Citing laws on the books placing requirements on telecommunications providers, she said that she wanted similar ones on Internet Service Providers. She stated that the new legislation would be targeted more specifically on ISPs and not on home wi-fi providers and web content providers.
She did not mention laws already on the books that require the reporting of child pornography, and only cited pornography as being the drving force behind the bill.
To answer the concerns of people that believe that the Federal Government is already overstepping the legal bounds on their use of surveillance, she insisted that her bill would require a 'probable cause' requirement for any use of the records and that it would include district enforcement language about inappropriate or unwarranted use of the information.
I suggested to her Deputy District Director that he may wish to include the suggestions of a broad range of voices while drafting the bill, and Communications Director Brandon MacGillis stated that while they have sought the input of telecommunications and ISP providers, they would like to engage the netroots on a number of issues including this one and asked for my help in setting up a live blogging session for the Congresswoman sometime in the next couple of months.