4th Amendment US Constitution:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Charlie Savage a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter reported in the New York Times that next year the president will send Congress new regulations for the internet. These proposed regulations are being made under the guise that terrorist organizations are not using traditional communication channels such as the telephone and are using internet social networking sites for communication.
The legislation the administration will propose would require all internet channels of communication to provide a “Back Door” to enable the federal government to monitor and intercept internet communications at any time as the law permits. This legislation would even require encrypted communications from hand held devices and social networking sites like Facebook to provide the government the technology for them to unscramble messages to comply with a wiretap. To me this is like the government asking us to provide all of our house, car, file cabinet and safety deposit box keys just in case someone “might” violate the law at some point in their lives. My liberal friends complained so much when the Bush administration asked for the wiretaps of phone calls originating outside the US from designated terrorist organizations, but now I haven’t heard any outcry of indignation when a proposal that will effect every American citizen’s private communications within the country.
In addition to the blatant disregard of the 4th amendment by this administration which this proposal shows there is also the security concern. How can a government that just leaked thousands of secret files in the “Wiki-leaks” scandal be trusted with the capability of having access to millions of private citizens communications without accidentally making public sensitive personal information or deliberately making public embarrassing information on political rivals. One has to just look what happened in the fall of 2008 when “Joe the Plumber’s” private divorce, tax & financial records were made public or further back in history with President Nixon’s “Enemies List”.
The attack on the internet doesn’t stop at the federal level or even at personal communications. The Washington Examiner reported recently that the city of Philadelphia is accessing bloggers $300.00 a year for a business privilege license. This fee is being accessed regardless of whether you derive any revenue from your blogg, the fee should be renamed a free speech or opinion tax.
I could go on and on about the government’s assault on bloggers and the free exchange of ideas and opinions on the internet (I.E. such as the new FTC regulations on expressing your opinions on goods and services or net neutrality ) but I think I will save that for another post. This is another example of the federal government ignoring the civil liberties under our constitution and local government’s regulatory overreaching.
-Just my Opinion-D.B.
Sources:
NY Times/Charlie Savage Article: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E4D61030F934A1575AC0A9669D8B63&ref=charlie_savage