[FYI] (Fwd) FC: South Africa moves to increase Net-surveillance, lim

["Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	Mon, 13 Aug 2001 11:31:48 -0400
To:             	politech@politechbot.com
From:           	Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject:        	FC: South Africa moves to increase Net-surveillance, limit
 	encryption
Send reply to:  	declan@well.com

A quick summary of South Africa's "Interception and Monitoring" bill,
which has cleared the Cabinet and is heading for a vote in the
Parliament:

* Internet providers and telephone companies must provide a pipe to a
National Monitoring Center for Carnivoresque surveillance. "The Police
Service, the Defence Force, the Agency, the Service and the
Directorate must, at State expense, establish, equip, operate and
maintain central monitoring centres... Duplicate signals of
communications authorized to be monitored in terms of this Act, must
be routed by the service provider concerned to the designated central
monitoring centre concerned."

* Internet providers may not "provide any telecommunication service
which does not have the capacity to be monitored." A provider is
responsible for "decrypting any communication encrypted by a customer
if the facility for encryption was provided by the service provider
concerned." This represents an attack on liberty, privacy, and
autonomy, and is akin to anti-encryption rules in Russia a few years
ago. Though as a practical matter, a lot would seem to turn on the
definition of "provide." Does that mean giving someone an SSL-enabled
web browser? IPv6 software?

* The legislation bans the provision of anonymous Internet access. It
says: "A service provider must... require from such person his or her
full names, residential, business or postal address and identity
number."

* Internet providers and telcos must pay for their own surveillance.
"A service provider must at own cost and within the period, if any,
specified by the Minister of Communications in a directive referred to
in subsection (4)(a), acquire the necessary facilities and devices to
enable the monitoring of communications in terms of this Act. The
investment, technical, maintenance and operating costs in enabling a
telecommunication service to be monitored, must be carried by the
service provider providing such a service."

* Internet providers cannot reveal wiretaps. "No person who is or was
concerned in the performance of any function in terms of this Act, may
disclose any information which he or she obtained in the performance
of such a function" (except to officials or courts).

The text of the legislation is here:
http://www.pmg.org.za/bills/Interception0107.htm

-Declan

*******

http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/world/africa/newsid_1484000/1484698.
stm Protests over SA 'snooping' bill 2001-08-13 06:10:06

    By Philippa Garson in Johannesburg

    Protests are growing in South Africa against the country's plan to
    give the security services new powers to monitor terrorists and
    serious criminals.

    Opponents say the Interception and Monitoring Bill is draconian,
    describing it as a charter for government snooping.

    Given only three weeks to make submissions on the Bill,
    non-government organisations have been making last-ditch attempts
    to garner more time to respond before the 13 August deadline.

    The bill was quietly passed by South Africa's Cabinet last month,
    largely catching the public unawares.

    It provides for state monitoring of all telecommunications
    systems, including mobile phones, internet and e-mail, once
    permission has been granted by relevant authorities.

    In most cases a judge must grant the order, but in some instances
    a police or army officer of a particular rank may do so.

    [...]




----------------------------------------------------------------------
--- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing
list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this
notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at
http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech:
http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is
archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
---

------- End of forwarded message -------