They really do plan on monitoring the internet closely, don't they?

[madfloridian]

Mike McConnell and his spokesperson say so. And the record our Democrats have had of fighting back on stuff like this almost assures it will happen.

In order for cyberspace to be policed, Internet activity will have to be closely monitored. Ed Giorgio, who is working with McConnell on the plan, said that would mean giving the government the authority to examine the content of any e-mail, file transfer, or Web search. "Google has records that could help in a cyber-investigation," he said. Giorgio warned me, "We have a saying in this business: 'Privacy and security are a zero-sum game.'"

That scares the hell out of me, and I have seen no sign that it will be even slowed down. It's probably already going on.

From TPM:

The Coming Storm

With the cyber-security initiative, McConnell is asking the country to confront a dilemma: Americans will have to trust the government not to abuse the authority it must have in order to protect our networks, and yet, historically, the government has not proved worthy of that trust. "FISA reform will be a walk in the park compared to this," McConnell said. "This is going to be a goat rope on the Hill. My prediction is that we're going to screw around with this until something horrendous happens."

More about it....

"After Siobhan Gorman of The Baltimore Sun -- now of The Wall Street Journal -- first broke the story of the Cyber-Security Policy in September, the plan seemed relatively close to completion. But then Democrats on the Hill, namely House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS), demanded to review it before it was launched. Since then, it hasn't been clear how close it is to completion. Wright reports that it's still in "the draft stage." With the FISA debate far from over, it seems likely that the Cyber-Security plan will remain on hold.

So again we see the secrecy. It is supposedly on hold, but we really don't know how far along it is, or if it will continue to be developed, or how or when.

The internet is about the only recourse for real and true communication now with everything else under scrutiny. I guess they are about to take care of that as well.

[IDemo]

1. "Americans will have to trust the government not to abuse the authority"

Sorry, Mr. McConnell, no we don't:

U.S. Constitution: Fourth Amendment

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. I assume they are already doing it

reality is... you can't trust fascists

Oh wait, I shouldn't use the term, since it is so insulting to some

:-)

[bonito]

3. If you hear of it, it's probably already happening n/t

[madfloridian]

4. Some of the comments are great.

Here is one:

"All good arguments, but would real terrorists really care? They've probably gone back to using the U.S. mail to communicate. Damn, now I've done it. Now the gov't will probably go after that as well. Do these people really work to protect us, or spend the better part of they waking hours coming up with ideas like McConnels? Incredibile where this country has gone in seven short years and equally sad."

Yes, it is incredibly sad.

[Spiffarino]

5. Two things to do right now...

1. Stay off Facebook, MySpace, etc. That's the first place they will mine your personal data.
2. Call your representatives in Congress and the Senate and tell them this is a non-starter if they expect to get your vote, your support, or to keep you from pulling out all the stops to defeat them come the next election.

[Atman]

6. Once digital television is fully online, we're fucked.

This is the scariest shit going. Despite what the pretty teevee commercials say, the government hasn't mandated digital teevee just because it looks better than over-the-air. Why would they? Has the government EVER forced consumers to buy something just because it looked better? If they had, the AMC Gremlin and the Ford Taurus would have been banned.

No...this is about a) selling off analog bandwidth at fire-sale prices to their buddies, and (now the scary part), total information control. That may sound over-the-top ominous, but it ain't over-the-top at all. Think of the recent uprising in Myanmar/Burma. The first thing the government did was to shut down internet access so that videos of the brutal clashes could not be beamed to the world.

Of course, that meant that internal information could not be sent, either. In order to accomplish this in "the old days," totalitarian govts had to physically take over television stations and cut their signals. No longer. When these new rules come into effect, a simple flip of the switch will cut off the entire regions from receiving information.

We take DU for granted. I often hear people say "Thank god we have the internet to communicate, because tv news tells us nothing anymore!" Well, no shit! Think about it. If a new authoritarian/totalitarian/fascist government wanted to, say hypothetically, take over California...CLICK...shut 'em off. No outgoing signals. No communications. In the olden days it was easy for governments to exert control because for the "enemy" (us) to get the word out they'd have to send out a messenger on horseback. The Authoritarians want that control back. It's coming. I promise, it's coming. I hope a Democratic administration can turn back the clock on what BushCo has initiated, but I fear they're already too far along.

.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Nobody creates such a system to quietly go into the night

we both know that.

[madfloridian]

10. You need to read Howie's DWT post about Myanmar..

and how quickly they found his post about his visit there and his thoughts. In a short time...his site was unreachable there. It is scary. Follow the links.

http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2008/01/myanmar-debriefing.html

[madfloridian]

30. More from Howie Klein from Myanmar...from the safety..temporarily...within the US

http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2008/01/myanmar-will-ruling-generals-come-back.html

[slipslidingaway]

7. Thanks..I guess. n/t

[Two Americas]

8. the good work

You are doing the good work. I know that it doesn't get the attention it deserves, and that you have to put up with a lot of abuse and absurd and malicious attacks from others. You should know that the work you are doing in so many areas is important to many of us, and does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Sometimes I think it is madfloridian versus the tyrants — one lone voice against the whirlwind. Your courage and persistence are phenomenal. Your posts are the proverbial single candle lighting a very dark room. Keep that flame burning and someday there will be a bonfire and we will turn back the forces of darkness.

[madfloridian]

11. Okay, that really moved me greatly.

And thanks. I am without words.

[Two Americas]

12. thank you

Keep up the good work. Dean is doing such a great service for all of us with his 50 state strategy, and he has powerful enemies. It is important that people understand the truth about the fight going on for the soul of the party. If not for you, so many would not know the truth. One voice can make a big difference.

[madfloridian]

13. Sometimes I wonder.

Your words mean a lot. The fight is really on, I think.

[Two Americas]

15. do what is right

We do what we do because it is the right thing to do - not because it is the most clever, or popular, or practical, or realistic.

If every Democrat did what was right thing to do instead of what they thought might "win" or was most "electable" or "realistic" we could turn the country around in a hurry. That is all it would take.

[TheMadMonk]

16. You forgot profitable. nt

[loudsue]

18. I second that: Madfloridian is priceless.

:applause: What a great asset we have there!!!

[antigop]

21. I agree. Madfloridian ROCKS! n/t

[Connonym]

14. I don't think it would be paranoid to suppose that this has already been happening

and I'm sure that just by posting here all of us are already on some fucking watch list. Howdy Agent Mike :hi:

[Dubiosus]

17. so what do you expect?

As long as you do not request the truth about the "attacks" on America they will fuck you in the a** again and again and again and again and and and.....will always have the excuse of security for their anal affinity!

And I deny to go to the dungeon to post this!! People, please wake up! It is so fucking real and we can not go on with elections and business as usual!!

You are right now in the best situation to make pressure!!



:grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr:
:grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr:

[Zywiec]

19. We have a saying in this business: 'Privacy and security are a zero-sum game.'"

What happened to this saying?

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety".

[spanone]

20. enjoy it while we can...cause God forbid we have non-surveilliance conversations

[madfloridian]

23. And a lot of it will be done in the name of protecting people,.

From everything. It's easier that way.

[madokie]

22. I'm sure they are and when they get the authority then some of us will be disapeared

thats all they are asking for is the authority to do what they have been doing for some time now. imo

[madfloridian]

24. "Reid (D-Nevada) is reportedly planning to discard legislative attempts to rein in these new powers"

That is just what I figured. This is from an article in Wired.

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/01/feds-must-exami.html

"In any event, that restriction collapsed this summer with the fear-induced, strong-armed passage of the so-called Protect America Act. That law radically re-architected the nation's surveillance apparatus.
Now the NSA can turn Gmail's servers and AT&T's switches into de facto arms of the surveillance industrial complex without any court oversight.

And though the law ostensibly sunsets in February, any orders in effect at that time will have power for another 12 months. Moreover, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) is reportedly planning to discard legislative attempts to rein in these new powers and will instead simply push to extend the current scheme another 12 months.

In short, McConnell's politically convenient exaggerations have already worked well for him in winning domestic spying powers, despite their flimsiness under any real scrutiny.

That track record bodes ill for anyone concerned about his new plans to push for sweeping and unnecessary powers to put the NSA in the wires of the internet in order to prevent a computer attacks."

[Ignis]

25. Information is power, and they're trying to make us powerless.

Thanks for your work keeping this story on the front burner, Madfloridan. Between election fraud and internet censorship, it's difficult to see why more of our candidates' time isn't spent on preserving our freedoms and civil liberties, isn't it?

:hi:

[StefanX]

26. Fuck'em. Hackers will provide encryption for everybody

And then the whole damn internet will be underground.

It is quite simple to use unbreakable encryption, eg elliptic curves. The stuff is unbreakable.

If the Feds create demand for this, trust me, there will be plenty of supply. Some people already post their PGP keys online so that other people can communicate securely with them.

It'll be just like the DEA going after marijuana. What was the result of their war on that drug? Well, the drug got 10x stronger, as it became more worthwhile to grow and sell it, and it became more important to produce concentrated, compact forms of it.

In a few years we'll be thanking the feds for introducing the totally secure encrypted internet.

The hackers will not be stopped.

[Kansas Wyatt]

28. Too bad the hackers do not expose what the Government has really...

Been up to under BushCo. & Republicans, Inc.

[Contrary1]

27. "Americans will have to trust the government not to abuse the authority

to examine the content of any e-mail, file transfer, or Web search."

Yeah, sure thing.

And for those of us lacking such trust: Scroogle
no cookies | no search-term records | access log deleted within 48 hours

http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/scraper.htm

[gulfcoastliberal]

29. Well the Chinese dem. activists locked up after being turned in by the search engines would agree

that the government can't be trusted!

We are turning into the old Stalinist Soviet Union, complete with Pravda, "disappearing" people, gulags, domestic spying, the works!