Gonzalez Attempts To Circumvent The Law... Again

Gonzales Pressures ISPs On Data Retention

In what amounts to yet another attempt to end-run the contitutional requirement to have probable cause and seek a supportable warrant from a court of competent jurisdiction, AG Alberto "Nut Case" Gonzalez met with telecommunications industry leaders to pressure them into becoming de facto law enforcement agents of the US Government... by holding onto data and being ready to surrender that data without delay or dur process (as in the ability of the target of such an investigation to get a hearing in court).

While it is important to fight child pornography, child exploitation and terrorism, it is even more important to retain our basic civil liberties, due process and basic freedoms... and remember that the US Constitution sees these things "unalienable."

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller on Friday urged telecommunications officials to record their customers' Internet activities, CNET News.com has learned.
In a private meeting with industry representatives, Gonzales, Mueller and other senior members of the Justice Department said Internet service providers should retain subscriber information and network data for two years, according to two sources familiar with the discussion who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The closed-door meeting at the Justice Department, which Gonzales had requested, according to the sources, comes as the idea of legally mandated data retention has become popular on Capitol Hill and inside the Bush administration. Supporters of the idea say it will help prosecutions of child pornography because in many cases, logs are deleted during the routine course of business.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales In a speech last month at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Gonzales said that Internet providers must retain records for a "reasonable amount of time."

"I will reach out personally to the CEOs of the leading service providers and to other industry leaders," Gonzales said. "Record retention by Internet service providers consistent with the legitimate privacy rights of Americans is an issue that must be addressed."

The article cites European precedent for doing similar data retention... But my answer to that is that we are not Europeans that are accustomed to surrendering their liberties to the state without question. We are Americans where the founding principles and philosophy of our nation is that certain rights are inalienable and need a compeling interest and a standard of probable cause to allow the government to act with authority or force. There is a DOJ paper that discusses the hazards concerning civil liberties on these issues for those that are interested.

In the meantime, some of the financial entities in the world of business are willing to start adhering to some standards of decency... but one wonders how these financial entities will behave to protect civil liberties, as well as how they will react when they realize that a lot of big business has their hands in the porn industry and may pressure them to lessen their zeal in these matters.

The nation's leading banks and credit card companies will soon team with law enforcement in a groundbreaking coalition to catch people who sell child pornography online.

The financial institutions will report child porn sites they discover on the Web to a central tip line, slated to expand next month to receive the information. The companies will block transactions for online child porn or, if law enforcement opens an investigation, help track sellers and buyers.

The Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography represents a new phase in the war against what has become a multibillion-dollar, international business. Internet service providers, including AOL, already report child porn sites they find.

"The scope of the problem is much greater than we ever thought. It's mind-boggling," says Ernie Allen of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, a private group that runs the tip line. Allen says one website can attract tens of thousands of customers, mostly men, who use credit cards to buy $29 monthly subscriptions. "People are getting into this because they see children as a commodity. There's no question organized crime is involved."

Eager to take profitability out of online child porn, Allen and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., brought together the companies.

"This is the broadest, most comprehensive coalition we've been involved in," says Joshua Peirez, a MasterCard executive. "This is not a competitiveness issue. This is about protecting children," he says.

"I haven't seen anything like it," adds Drew Oosterbaan, chief of the Justice Department's child exploitation section. "We're here to support the effort."

Participants include Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, which cover most of the U.S. credit card market. Also involved are Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup and PayPal. Visa, MasterCard and American Express say they will identify sites accepting their cards to sell child porn but won't reveal customers unless subpoenaed.