[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[FYI] Scarfo case could test cyber-spying tactic
- To: debate@fitug.de
- Subject: [FYI] Scarfo case could test cyber-spying tactic
- From: "Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>
- Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 20:48:43 +0100
- Comment: This message comes from the debate mailing list.
- Organization: NONE
- Sender: owner-debate@fitug.de
http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2000/12/04/front_page/JMOB04.ht
m?template=aprint.htm
------------------------------- CUT -------------------------------
Monday, December 4, 2000
Scarfo case could test cyber-spying tactic
By George Anastasia
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
A federal gambling case against the son of jailed mob boss Nicodemo
"Little Nicky" Scarfo could instead be the first legal test of
cutting-edge cyber-surveillance technology that some critics of
federal investigations say borders on Big Brotherism.
Court records in the pending case indicate that Nicodemo S. Scarfo,
35, was the target of a sophisticated surveillance tool - a so-called
keystroke-logging device - that allowed the FBI to reproduce every
stroke he entered on a computer on which gambling records allegedly
were stored.
Scarfo subsequently was charged with supervising a mob-linked
bookmaking and loan-sharking operation in North Jersey.
Questions about the FBI's spying methods in the Scarfo investigation
surface at a time when defense lawyers and civil libertarians have
begun to ask how far federal authorities should be permitted to go
with electronic surveillance. Critics say that technology is evolving
faster than the laws governing privacy rights and that federal
investigators, emboldened by the capabilities of their cyber-tools,
frequently disregard constitutional guarantees.
"Anything he typed on that keyboard - a letter to his lawyer,
personal or medical records, legitimate business records - they got
it all," said Donald Manno, Scarfo's longtime lawyer.
"That's scary. It's dangerous," he said.
[...]
------------------------------- CUT -------------------------------