Are search results fair game in porn fight?
Federal prosecutors made a request for millions of search records from four major search engines in its defense of a controversial Internet pornography law. The investigation is part of the Bush administration's appeal regarding the Child Online Protection Act. As part of the probe, federal investigators asked for search records from Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and America Online. So far, Google has refused to comply with the government's requests, but Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft have all reportedly complied. Privacy advocates are up in arms over the idea that search results are subject to government perusal. But Yahoo and AOL both insist that, while they complied fully with the feds' request, none of the information handed over was personally identifiable. How much privacy are you willing to give up in the fight to protect children from online pornography? Is there a way to keep porn sites out of children's reach without infringing on the rights of adults?
Tug-of-war between privacy and child protection
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Listen up
News.com reporter Elinor Mills talks with Kurt Opsahl of the Electronic Frontier Foundation about privacy and the government's Google request.
This sort of damage done to the US morale as a whole is far greater than the benefit of unlimited access to our data and the criminalization of parties who refuse to participate in this culling.
Every breath for liberty must echo a dissent against this sort of carte blanche absorption of private, corporate and personal data.
The government doesn't have the right to absorb every detail of its citizen's lives to single out a few. That is a dangerous road to begin.
"Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft have all reportedly complied. ... Yahoo and AOL both insist that, while they complied fully with the feds' request, none of the information handed over was personally identifiable."
That means Microsoft is the ONLY one that complied and turned over personally identifiable information.
I can remember when Microsoft had guts.
Secondly, Google collects massive amount of data on users searches', and is always looking for ways to utilize that data. That data is only a legal paper away. If Google hadn't collected so much data about users, it won't be in this trouble now.
Google has had a nightmarish privacy record, and this thing could bring the company down. Fighting efforts to fight child porn ?...shame on you Google.
We have proof now that these other search engines can't be trusted to stand up for the rights of their users. Who buy the way foots their bills and makes their stock worth what it is.
Damn the Bush Admistration for trying to Christianize things they have no business getting in to. With the Bush Adminstration spying on American's plus the lies he told to go to war it is clear that anything these people say can't be taken at face value. The search data requests will be used in any fashion they wish. Bush and his group of rejects already feels they can do whatever the want, regardless of the law. Then America told him it was alright when the idiots gave him a second term.
Now it is time to rape the rewards for all of the idiots that voted for him. America the free my as*.
Robert
Bill Gates and other executives at Microsoft have had all of their email captured by legal teams for various law suits at one time or another. Bill Gates once said "We live the observed life". Translation...assume that everything you say, write, or do will be reviewed by a team of lawyers...with the worst of intentions.
I wrote a blog on the subject of privacy, the limits of presidential power, and how judge Alito's supreme court nomination might effect decisions on this subject. You can read the whole thing here http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2006/01/living_the_obse.html
I hope google tells the government to go lay an egg! OH, they say we are not looking for identities; but if you look through my window and don't know my name, isn't that still spying??? They now want to spy on everyone!
~ anarchist ~
Secondly, this is just another case of the Bush Administration violating the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution with its illegal spying activities. Think about it - how in the hell does all of this data tell them the effectiveness of porn filters? That's like saying we had to attack Iraq because they could have used all of those WMDs that they had. Yeah, right!
This is just another case of how King Bush and his Administration are trying to circumvent our privacy laws to maintain their political power. We are now entering an age of tyranny in this country. We better wake up and stand up against it now, otherwise we shouldn't bother to preserve the Constitution since it will be meaningless.
Remember when 'whitehouse.com' was a porn site? How many people went there when they really wanted 'whitehouse.gov'?
Looking at search results (and keywords) is a reach.
If Google didn't keep all of this information, they wouldn't have a problem today with the government. And the thought of Google keeping all of this information on individuals is hardly more reassuring than the government desiring to view this information. I've heard of people "googling"
people's names, pumping for information on people that they know, trying to dig up dirt and cause trouble. I think it's a violation of privacy, clear and simple, and I think that Google ought to be hauled into court and handed a hefty fine for being so nosy, and for encouraging nosiness. As for government agencies, Big Brother seems to be always watching someone. They also need to learn to mind their own business.
It has a lot of surprising new features. I most like the browsing in 2 tiled windows for message boards and the creating of reference pages. Since it doesn?t take a full line I?m using it in addition to my yahoo toolbar without any problem.
You can try it from download.com or from their website.
Are there any other toolbars like this one I can try?
Does Firefox has similar features?
The DoJ is employed by the Whitehouse to prosecute or defend cases of it's own interest. These happen to be called "national interest" and they are owned by the federal government, not it's people.
Google makes money off the information that the DoJ is requesting. They also commit their own resources to collect it and it is their resource collectively worth billions. Were Microsoft to ask Google for the exact same information, Google would charge them millions of dollars to have it.
The US Government can not force anyone to provide any service or goods for free. There for if they want this data for their own uses, they should have to pay the millions it's worth to obtain it legally. They have no arbitrary legal right to the data.
The other main reason Google (and the others who didn't) need to resist this is that the use for the data is already obvious. The DoJ seeks to criminalize it. That could put Google, MSN and Yahoo at risk for violating the law the DoJ is trying to defend. The DoJ will have plenty of evidence provided by these companies to go directly after them following the courts upholding this law.
This is not a case where someone broke the law and this evidence is needed to convict a possibly guilty party. This is a case where the DoJ needs valuable data to proceed with a case of the government's own interest. No technology company should want to see that law pass through the courts upheld.
- Don't be silly....
- by Captain-Atari January 23, 2006 12:37 PM PST
- This Child porn thing is more "Smoke and Mirrors" from the far right. Once again using children to disguise their attack on something Adults have a constitutional right to. If you think that hardcore "child porn" fans are going to use Google to find kiddie porn sites you truly are Net Noobie. If it were that easy the FBI would have no trouble finding these sites and shutting them down.
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(54 Comments)This has nothing to do with Child porn and everything to do with the unofficial war on porn from the 1980's. My advice to Americans who believe in free speech and personal liberty is to make a list of the law makers who support this type of dreck and vote them out of office this coming November