The Obama internet plan has expanded to consist of something besides more broadband for every person. Currently, the Obama administration and law enforcement and security agencies are pushing for new regulations of the Internet and the telecommunications industry. The bill isn’t anywhere close to done. That said, the surveillance powers of the government could be dramatically expanded if it does. There are few methods of electronic communication that aren’t already under surveillance. This will shorten that list even further.
The Obama web plan
There is a bill that is planned for next year, according to the NY Times, that will expand wiretap and monitoring powers for law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The bill is due sometime next year. The Obama administration backs the idea. A great deal of communications is already mandated to permit federal access for surveillance purposes. The list will simply get bigger. The reason is that some communications, especially those on the Internet, are encrypted and private.
Small firms will lose out
Polices tend to favor the businesses that can afford to keep up with them. A large tech firm with a nice engineering staff will hardly be fazed, whereas a small startup will be disadvantaged. The recent ban of the Blackberry in several countries was due to Research In Motion having intended the phone so e-mails and texts are encrypted, private communications. RIM is within the process of complying with monitoring needs of several governments, and companies such as Skype and other VOIP, or voice over web protocol, companies can have to re-engineer their products to regulatory standards. Fewer individuals are relying on traditional phone communications. Regulation enforcement and intelligence personnel have warned that the ability to monitor criminals is “going dark” as a result of less access.
All hearing ears
There have been many laws passed giving federal the ability to look or listen in. Few methods of communication, except maybe sign language, are exempt. Obama has been mum about repealing some of the almost Orwellian laws which were part of Bush domestic spying controversies. There are legitimate threats to public safety that can be dealt with by this legislation, and the federal insists it’s not overstepping its authority by asking for the access. You will find individuals that do pose a threat to public safety that could be caught using these methods. However, this sort of power is very easily misused.
Articles cited
NY Times
nytimes.com/2010/09/27/us/27wiretap.html?pagewanted=1
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