FITUG e.V.
Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft
FITUG e.V.Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft |
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------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 07:45:13 -0500 To: politech@vorlon.mit.edu From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> Subject: FC: White House report says government wants to trace Net users Send reply to: declan@well.com
The forthcoming report: http://www.politechbot.com/docs/unlawfulconduct.html
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http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34720,00.html
U.S. Wants to Trace Net Users by Declan McCullagh (declan@wired.com)
3:00 a.m. 4.Mar.2000 PST WASHINGTON -- The ease of hiding one's identity on the Net is giving police migraines and justifies providing broad new powers to law enforcement, the White House says in a forthcoming report.
The federal government should take steps to improve online traceability and promote international cooperation to identify Internet users, according to a draft of the report commissioned by President Clinton.
Police should be able to determine the source of hacker attacks or "anonymous emails that contain bomb threats," states the 200 KB document prepared by a high-level working group chaired by Attorney General Janet Reno.
Although the report was largely complete before last month's prominent denial-of-service attacks, it will likely influence the debate over how the U.S. government should respond to them.
The FBI has not made any arrests during its investigation, and bureau officials Tuesday told Congress that anonymity and the global nature of the Internet pose serious problems.
A White House spokesman said the report is being finalized and "should be released very soon."
The Working Group on Unlawful Conduct on the Internet, which Clinton created in August 1999 to consider new laws or educational programs, includes senior administration officials such as FBI Director Louis Freeh, Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, Commerce Secretary William Daley, and representatives from the military, DEA, and Secret Service.
The group focused on what it views as the problem of anonymity, citing "the need for real-time tracing of Internet communications across traditional jurisdictional boundaries, both domestically and internationally [and] the need to track down sophisticated users who commit unlawful acts on the Internet while hiding their identities," according to the report.
Currently no laws require Internet users in the United States to reveal their identities before signing up for accounts, and both fee-based and free services offer anonymous mail, Web browsing, and dialup connections.
Internet service providers should be encouraged, though not required, to maintain detailed records of what their users are doing online. "Some industry members may not retain certain system data long enough to permit law enforcement to identify online offenders," the report says.
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