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[FYI] (Fwd) Wiretaps tripled last year, and U.K. Parliament crit



------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
To:            cryptography@c2.net
Subject:       Wiretaps tripled last year, and U.K. Parliament criticizes Enfopol
Reply-to:      perry@piermont.com
From:          "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@piermont.com>
Date:          21 May 1999 12:47:35 -0400


Forwarded from NewsScan Daily:

> NewsScan Daily,  21 May 1999 ("Above The Fold")
> 
> ************************************************************
> NewsScan Daily is a summary of significant information technology news,
> written by John Gehl & Suzanne Douglas.   It is a FREE service of 
> NewsScan.com. Visit us at http://www.NewsScan.com/.
> ************************************************************
[...]
> ELECTRONIC WIRETAPS TRIPLED LAST YEAR
> The number of wiretaps placed by state and federal law enforcement officials
> on cell phones, pagers, e-mail and other telecommunications devices nearly
> tripled last year, and for the first time wiretaps on cell phones and pagers
> outnumbered those on conventional telephones.  About three-quarters of the
> 1,329 wiretaps authorized were related to drug cases, according to a report
> issued by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.  Wiretaps on
> wireless communications devices -- cell phones and pagers -- more than
> doubled, from 206 in 1997 to 576 last year, and for the first time, five
> e-mail wiretaps were implemented.  (USA Today 21 May 99)
> http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ctf213.htm
> 
> EU PLAN FOR INTERNET SNOOPING UNDER ATTACK
> The U.K. House of Commons Select Trade and Industry Committee has released a
> report criticizing the European Union's Enfopol resolution, which would
> force Internet service providers and telecommunications carriers to
> establish an infrastructure that would enable law enforcement agencies to
> intercept Internet traffic.  Calling the plan unjustified and unfeasible,
> committee chairman Martin O'Neill said, "We felt the civil-liberties
> arguments outweighed the security arrangements.  If (the intelligence
> services) could justify what they were doing in terms of results, people
> would want to do it.  Otherwise, it's a leap in the dark."  O'Neill also
> noted that such restrictions could damage the climate for e-commerce in
> Great Britain, and Europe in general.  (TechWeb 21 May 99)
> http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990520S0022
[...]