Daily Network Monitor

Prologue:

Don’t understand what all the huff in the media is about regarding the big telecom companies receiving amnesty for aiding the FBI in warrant-less wiretapping? Here are the Cliff Notes on the erosion of civil liberties in the United States of America and what it could mean to your network.

Act 1: FISA and The Patriot Act

The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, requires a warrant to intercept international communications involving American citizens. In 2002, not satisfied with the prompt speed of the secret court that has granted these warrants, President Bush, under the auspices of the Patriot Act, ignored the law and ordered the NSA to intercept telephone calls and emails between people outside of and inside of the United States as long as the target was not in this country.

In 2003, the big telecoms (AT&T, Verizon and MCI) entered into contracts with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, receiving compensation for turning over records. Between 2003 and 2005, the telecoms further aided the FBI in warrant-less wiretaps by complying with at least 739 terrorist-related National Security Letters, circumventing current privacy laws. These emergency letters are self-issued subpoenas. As required by law, for an agent to issue a NSL, the inquiry must be related to an open investigation and partnered with a request for a proper subpoena. However, regarding the 739 letters, few were legitimate.

In an interview with Wired News, FBI Assistant Director John Miller stated, “The contract essentially pays for the man hours or the personnel cost for the people who have to do the work. We want dedicated people who handle our requests or do nothing else.”

In 2006, Mark Klein, a telecommunications technician with AT&T’s San Francisco branch, detailed in a statement, on behalf of a class-action suit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation against AT&T, that the National Security Agency, had been granted access to two massive databases that contained records such as phone numbers dialed and internet addresses visited by AT&T’s subscribers. Klein further suggested that access was being granted to the NSA in other facilities in metropolises throughout the United States.

Nearly a year ago, President Bush and Congress pushed the FISA Amendment Act through, granting the intelligence community the ability to spy without court approval for one year, with the caveats listed above, and retroactively legitimizing five years of illegal activity by the Bush administration.

Act 2: Protect America Act & RESTORE Act

(To Be Continued)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 9:44 am and is filed under Network Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.