[Nettime-bold] anti-terror bills

["AnouK AnouK" <anoukre@hotmail.com>]

I admit I am a bit cynical but, I am the only one who sees it a opportune 
coincidence that at the same time when the new terrorist bills are being 
approved by the Senate the FBI warns of the possibility (certainty almost) 
of new attacks on the US? It couldnt be better, you scare off those you were 
still unconvinced and then you vote on incredibly strict and civil liberties 
abusive laws. Its just perfect.

This is what the Bush administration has done best: To fuel fear in order to 
then pass laws that are in agreement with their general political agenda but 
would have been outright rejected a couple of months ago. And we thought he 
was dumb...

A brief summary of the content of these bills:



Financial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 (HR 3004)

Among the most obnoxious provisions of this bill are: expanding the war on 
cash by creating a new federal crime of taking over $10,000 cash into or out 
of the United States; codifying the unconstitutional authority of the 
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCeN) to snoop into the private 
financial dealings of American citizens; and expanding the "suspicious 
activity reports" mandate to broker-dealers, even though history has shown 
that these reports fail to significantly aid in apprehending criminals. 
These measures will actually distract from the battle against terrorism by 
encouraging law enforcement authorities to waste time snooping through the 
financial records of innocent Americans who simply happen to demonstrate an 
"unusual" pattern in their financial dealings.

HR 3004 also attacks the Fourth Amendment by authorizing warrantless 
searches of all mail coming into or leaving the country. Allowing government 
officials to read mail going out of or coming into the country at whim is 
characteristic of totalitarian regimes, not free societies.


USA Act (by the Senate -- no expiration date (yet))

the USA Act allows police to conduct Internet eavesdropping without a court 
order in some circumstances, lets federal prosecutors imprison non-citizens 
for extended periods, and expands the duration of an electronic surveillance 
order issued by a secret court from                           90 to 120 
days.



Today senators rejected the following ammendments (proposed by Sen. 
Feingold) which would have:

-- Still allowed police to perform "roving wiretaps" and listen in on any 
telephone that a subject of an investigation might use. But cops could only 
eavesdrop when the suspect is the person using the phone. The amendment was 
rejected, 90-7.

-- Preseved the privacy of sensitive records -- such as medical or 
educational data -- by requiring police to convince a judge that viewing 
them is necessary. Without that amendment, the USA Act expands police's 
ability to access any type of stored or "tangible" information. The 
amendment was rejected, 89-8.

-- Clarified that universities, libraries and employers may only snoop on 
people who use their computers in narrow circumstances. Right now, the USA 
Act says that system administrators should be able to monitor anyone they 
deem a "computer trespasser". This provision -- aimed at preventing 
cyber-attacks by terrorists -- permits surveillance of anyone who accesses a 
computer "without authorization." Feingold called the measure overly broad, 
saying it could be construed as allowing surveillance of an office worker 
who violates company policy by making a personal Internet purchase on 
company time. The amendment was rejected, 83-13.

-- Barred police from obtaining a court order, sneaking into a suspect's 
home, and not notifiying that person they had been there. The "secret 
search" section currently is part of the USA Act -- and is something the 
Justice Department has wanted at least since 1999, when they unsuccessfully 
asked Congress for that power at the time. The amendment was not introduced.




Data taken from Politech List and Washington Post



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