The United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC) quickly issued a statement attacking the harassment of antiwar activists. All those individuals who were targeted by the FBI had been at the the UNAC Conference which called for mass demonstrations against U.S. wars and occupations in April of next year. They called for protests early this week at FBI offices and Federal Buildings. At last count there are already 18 cities with planned actions.
In addition, the New York Times today is reporting that the White House will introduce a bill that makes it easier to wiretap the Internet. They will submit the bill next year to require all online services to be technically equipped to comply with a wiretap order.
It will require:
All services that provide encrypted messages must be capable of unscrambling them
All foreign communications providers that do business in the United States would have to have an office in the U.S. that is capable of providing intercepts
All software developers of peer to peer communications services would be required to redesign their products to allow interception
Some privacy and technology advocates say these regulations would create weaknesses in the technology that hackers could more easily exploit. On line banking, anyone?
All these government activities are meant to intimidate anti war activists. One of the targeted activists, Tom Burke said it well: "The goal of the raids is to harass and try to intimidate the movement against U.S. wars and occupations and those who oppose U.S. support for repressive regimes. They are designed to suppress dissent, to divide the peace movement and pave the way for more interventions in the Middle East and Central America."
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2 comments:
In respect to the White House bill on communication intercept, and speaking on behalf of the GNU Telephony project, we do intend to openly defy such a law should it actually come to pass. It is not simply that we will choose to publicly defy the imposition of such an illegitimate law, but that we will explicitly continue to publicly develop and distribute free software (that is software that offers the freedom to use, inspect, and modify) enabling secure peer-to-peer communication privacy through encryption that is made available directly to anyone worldwide. Clearly such software is especially needed in those places, such as in the United States, where basic human freedoms and human dignity seem most threatened.
In the United States the 4th amendment did not come about simply because it was impractical to directly spy on everyone on such a large scale. Nor does it end simply because it may now be technically feasible to do so. Communication privacy furthermore is essential to the normal functioning of free and human societies, whether speaking of whistle-blowers, journalists who have to protect their sources, human rights and peace activists engaging in legitimate political dissent, workers engaged in union and political organizing, or lawyers who must ultimately be able to protect the confidentiality of their privileged communications with clients.
However, to fully appreciate the effect of such surveillance on human societies, imagine being among several hundred million people who wake up each day having to prove they are not a “terrorist” by whatever arbitrary means the government has decided to both define the terms of such a crime and whatever arbitrary methods unknown to you that they might choose to define you as such, and where even your prosecution is carried out under the immunity of “state secrets” that all police states use to abuse of their own citizens. Such a society is one who’s very foundation is built on the premise of everyone being guilty until proven innocent and where due process does not exist. It is the imposition of such a illegitimate society that we choose to openly oppose, and to do so in this manner.
Thank you for your informed comment. I am sure there will be a lot of blowback to the President on this issue. We need to fight all these plans to to restrict our basic freedoms.
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