FBI wants widespread monitoring of 'illegal' Internet activity

WASHINGTON--The FBI on Wednesday called for new legislation that would allow federal police to monitor the Internet for "illegal activity."

The suggestion from FBI Director Robert Mueller, which came during a House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearing, appears to go beyond a current plan to monitor traffic on federal-government networks. Mueller seemed to suggest that the bureau should have a broad "omnibus" authority to conduct monitoring and surveillance of private-sector networks as well.

The surveillance should include all Internet traffic, Mueller said, "whether it be .mil, .gov, .com--whichever network you're talking about." (See the transcript of the hearing.)

In response to questions from Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, Mueller said his idea "balances on one hand, the privacy rights of the individual who are receiving the information, but on the other hand, given the technology, the necessity of having some omnibus search capability utilizing filters that would identify the illegal activity as it comes through and give us the ability to preempt that illegal activity where it comes through a choke point."

In response, Issa said: "Can you have someone on your staff designated to work with members of Congress on trying to craft that legislation?"

If any omnibus Internet-monitoring proposal became law, it could implicate the Fourth Amendment's guarantee of freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. In general, courts have ruled that police need search warrants to obtain the content of communication, and the federal Wiretap Act created "super warrant" wiretap orders that require additional steps and judicial oversight.

In addition, it's unclear whether "illegal activity" would be limited to responding to denial-of-service attacks and botnets, or would also include detecting other illegal activities, such as online gambling, the distribution of "obscene" images of adults engaged in sexual acts, or selling drugs without a license.

Robert Mueller

(Credit: FBI )

To be fair, Wednesday's discussion of the plan was geared toward cybercrime and the Bush administration's classified "cyberinitiative," which includes a shadowy program known as Einstein.

Some politicians have already raised concerns that even Einstein, which is described as dealing only with government networks and not private ones, could infringe upon the privacy rights of American citizens. It's already in place at 15 federal agencies, but Homeland Security has said it's still preparing the necessary privacy impact assessments for a proposed $293 million governmentwide Einstein expansion.

Issa, for his part, referred on Wednesday to malicious attacks being undertaken by foreign and domestic hackers who want to "take control of computers" and harvest the national-security secrets and private information of government agencies, private companies, and individual Americans.

"What authorities do you need to monitor, looking for those illegal activities, and then act on those, both defensively and, either yourselves or certainly other agencies, offensively in order to shut down a crime in process?" Issa asked.

In response, Mueller said he would be happy to have his legislative staff work with members of Issa's committee on creating a bill for a broader-reaching surveillance system.

Issa suggested that perhaps the FBI already has the power to seek voluntary private-sector partners that would like to be "defended" by its agents, provided that they give the FBI their consent. Mueller, however, wasn't so sure, saying, "that's going to require some thought."

[6:00 pm: Updated story with additional quotations from transcript of the hearing.]

CNET News.com's Declan McCullagh contributed to this report.

[DrDubious]

It was bound to end this way

The Internet is dead.

[tremorfireheart]

Goverment Monitoring

this law being push through seems to be another way for the Goverment to make up for the loss in the FISA Ammendment granting immunity to telecom companies for assisting in potentialy unlawful surveilance. This would be a potential way to still monitor at least the voip services that abound on the net. On top of that granting the ability to sniff through or emails and the like. In a number of ways this could provide the means to be even more intrusive then the Fisa amendment. Particularly with a loose definition such as illegal activity.
Investigating Money laundering could be plausible enough excuse to see all bank transfers and payments you do over the net. If I have a subscription to some sexually oriented or politicaly oriented online service, I do not care to have anyone else know about it much less the goverment. I realize that much on the internet is free to find and grab information from, but there are somethings that you want to keep between you and those close to you. Buisiness deals, hot tips on the stock market, and ideologically sensitive comments should sometimes be held close to the chest.

There is still some anomity on the net. Where we can view and vent some of our true feelings with out fear of back lash or social constraints. Lets keep those simpletons who simply flame, those who troll, and those who speak things to just get a rise out of people under the mask of anomity. it's good stress relief and it just might make you think.

[c|net Reader]

Disconcerting

I like the idea of the FBI looking out for my interests in fighting those who try to steal identities, and so on. I don't like the idea of them scanning all Internet traffic they can get their hands on. Obviously, access to Internet traffic is already available to those companies with access to the main pipes, and all of my traffic is available to my ISP, but I'm less comfortable with the idea of the U.S. Government getting into the fray. Certainly some foreign governments, such as China's, already monitor what happens within their purview.

Considered in the light of so much existing monitoring, this is hardly new ground, so maybe I'm being too sensitive.

[befuddledms]

big brother

"the bureau should have a broad "omnibus" authority to conduct monitoring and surveillance of private-sector networks as well."

It already exists. It's called a F****ing Court Order.

So much for the the 4th amendment.

[RLKrygowski]

FBI wants widespread monitoring of 'illegal' Internet activity

We seem to be taking steps in the direction of fewer freedom and more government oversight and snooping into our lives. When does it end? Why shouldn't our government have to get a warrant to justify their actions like any other state or local authority. Outrageous.

[Mam00th]

Cryptography

Suddenly, cryptography and proxy just gained in popularity...

[cpeterka]

We are so, so going down the toilet

In order to watch for Illegal Activity, they will have to scan ALL Activity.
and with most phones going VOIP, they'll listen to all the phone calls, too.

I guess I'll have to arrainge my little extra curricular activites with flags and semiphone.

P.S. Nancy, meet me at the Days Inn outside of town.

[jessiethe3rd]

hehehe...

And you really thought this WASN'T going to happen?! Com'on now...

[oldguytoo]

GeorgeOrwell

1984 Big Brother and all is the new reality.

It'll be easier to build a fence around the country, pull all our troops home and end trade - become self sufficient!

[incrediblehelp]

terrible just terrible

I cant believe this is going to be allowed, where are our privacy rights? Between this and the fact those Comcast scum are trying to tax the internet it is becoming a sad state of affairs.

[chad633]

This is so wrong!

If the government wants to monitor their computers, fine! But the government has no business monitoring everything the world does on the internet. We keep giving up our rights in the name of security. What's next bar codes being tattooed on the back of our necks? Chips implanted in us? Our government should fear the people! instead of the people fearing the government! This is so wrong and it makes me want to vomit.

[rapope--2008]

It's Now Time...

It's now time to use PGP for even routine email traffic. Let's see them waste a lot of time ... on nothing!

[Imalittleteapot]

So what's the deal?

So what's the deal? Are the American people willing to stand up and fight for their rights yet? Perhaps this still isn't bad enough. Still tied to your wide screen? I understand. I know how it is.

[jemay]

Herr Mueller

Herr A. H. Mueller will just start the fourth Reich here in America, with his new power. If you thought j.H. Hover was powerful wait a few years. Of course by that time anybody that disagrees will, have been found guilty of some Federal crime and be in prison.
Like they don't make evidence just apear or disapear as the case may require. Prove you didn't send that email. HA Ha.

[trekgraham78]

Just what we need

Government already monitors phone calls, why can't they focus on terrorism and violent crime?

How much are the companies paying the goverment to crack down on copyright violations? I mean come on, cost of gas is insane, my bills keep going up, my income remains about the same and they expect us to afford to goto movies and go out? I just heard that airlines are going to increase fares as much as triple current rates to cover their costs. I guess I will be taking the train unless i take a trip out of the country. I have friends thinking about moving to Europe, England or Germany are their top choices. Funny England was the reason for the USA and now for some it is the solution to the problems in the US

[My-Self]

U S S R - 2.0

Welcome to the new, cathcy, 2.0 version of the Soviet Union, and the best part : You don't even need to travel to get there !

[amigoaz99]

crazy - for many reasons

for many reasons, the FBI was not setup to be big brother. They can't be trusted to keep out of everyone's business - this has been proven many times as "leaks" or unauthorized data retrievals have occurred.

Just as the FBI does not have permission to monitor every phone call, they should not have access to every piece of data on the internet.

a clear violation of constitutional rights - but the question is if congress and supreme court will uphold them..

In general, it will just mean better encryption for those that need it, so they won't be looking at YOUR data unless they spend time decoding it.

Bottom line is that the FBI will only catch those who don't protect themselves..

[Charlief1]

Prove It

If the FBI wants to do something to curb illegal activities, let them start with SPAM. Once they've made a dent in that, they've proven themselves capable of taking on other IT issues, and Congress can revisit the issue. Until then, NO WAY should we give J. Edgar's boys that much control over our lives.

[loserguy3000]

The Government's Fault? Hardly!

Pa-shaw! The last thing we need to hear are people whining about the evils of the government and how its all confirmation of the great Orwellian prophecy. For all the senseless talk of moving to Europe and Canada to escape the upcoming fascism - adios... I imagine after you experience true civil violations, you'll be glad you kept that round-trip ticket.

For all this talk of government-sponsored databases and ID cards and tracking, why would they bother? The average citizen has already (and gleefully so) given themselves over to the grid. Why does government need to make a database to keep tabs when:

* millions have already identified themselves via MySpace, FaceBook, YouTube, and hundreds others. We know everything about you, your favorite colors, who you associate with, even what you're listening to and what you love to buy.

* millions have GPS-enabled cellphones and automobiles, all DESIGNED to track movements and help others keep in touch with them whenever and where ever they are.

* need to keep track of neighbors? how about instant communication via cellphone messaging, internet boards, community listings, hell even sex offender tracking. its easier than ordering a pizza!

...and its not getting any better! Every day, new trash-people post dozens of criminally minded videos to any number of video websites. Need white-trash girls beating the heck out of each other? Preteens threatening the president? Babies getting high? Check...all through easily trackable, easy-to-post videos. Thank you, America!

Frankly, I'm not concerned about the government poking its nose in on me because I'm NOT DOING ANYTHING wrong. Considering this is Cnet, I'd assume that most users are familiar with at least one crime-breaking piece of software and regularly partake from the well of 'free software/music/film' known as bittorent or something similar. How's that working out for ya?

Although I'd rather not have my privacy violated, every single time I hear about kids exploited in kiddy porn or innocents violated and posted online (not to mention 99% of every single talkback ever posted degenerating into childish babble), I can't help but think that something needs to be done. If you don't agree, then I must say you're made of sterner stuff.

[assclownbush]

Government is where all corruption and illegal activity begins...

Fighting all the evils ruining America begins at the government level. I'm not talking legislation, I am talking about all the corrupt govt officials and employees who abuse their power.