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Thread ID: 11147 | Posts: 3 | Started: 2003-11-19
2003-11-19 03:37 | User Profile
CNET News.com: [url]http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5108854.html?tag=nefd_top[/url]
Bush pushes for cybercrime treaty
Last modified: November 18, 2003, 2:15 PM PST By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com
**President Bush has asked the U.S. Senate to ratify the first international cybercrime treaty. **
In a [url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031117-11.html]letter to the Senate[/url] on Monday, Bush called the Council of Europe's controversial treaty "an effective tool in the global effort to combat computer-related crime" and "the only multilateral treaty to address the problems of computer-related crime and electronic evidence gathering."
Even though the United States is a nonvoting member of the Council of Europe, it has pressed hard for the [url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/CadreListeTraites.htm]cybercrime treaty[/url] as a way to establish international criminal standards related to copyright infringement, online fraud, child pornography and network intrusions. The U.S. Department of Justice says the treaty will eliminate "procedural and jurisdictional obstacles that can delay or endanger international investigations."
Civil libertarians [url=http://www.gilc.org/privacy/coe-letter-1000.html]have objected[/url] to the treaty ever since it became public in early 2000, arguing that it would endanger privacy rights and grant too much power to government investigators. So [url=http://www.cdt.org/international/cybercrime/001115acp.shtml]have[/url] industry groups such as Americans for Computer Privacy and the Internet Alliance. They raised concerns that the treaty could limit anonymity or impose vague record-keeping requirements on U.S. Internet providers.
"It's a treaty that goes way beyond combating cybercrime," said [url=http://archive.aclu.org/about/bsbio.html]Barry Steinhardt[/url], director of the ACLU's technology and liberty program. "It would require nations that participate in the treaty to adopt all sorts of intrusive surveillance measures and cooperate with other nations, even when the act that's being investigated is not a crime in their home country."
So far, according to the Council of Europe, only three countries--Albania, Croatia and Estonia--have ratified the treaty. If the Senate approves it, the Bush administration said it believes that because U.S. law already abides by provisions in the treaty, no further legal changes would be necessary.
The treaty requires each participating nation to ban the distribution of software that is designed for the "purpose of committing" certain computer crimes, requires Internet providers to ensure "expeditious preservation of traffic data" upon request, and permits real-time wiretapping of Internet service providers. It also covers extradition for computer crimes and permits police to request that their counterparts in other countries cooperate in conducting electronic surveillance.
Bush said the treaty will "help deny 'safe havens' to criminals, including terrorists, who can cause damage to U.S. interests from abroad, using computer systems."
An addition to the Council of Europe's cybercrime treaty would ban "hate speech" from the Internet, a common prohibition in European nations that violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. The Justice Department [url=http://news.com.com/2100-1023-965983.html?tag=nl]said last year[/url] that it does not support the optional addition but still endorses the underlying treaty.
The addition covers "distributing, or otherwise making available, racist and xenophobic material to the public through a computer system." This is defined as "any written material, any image or any other representation of ideas or theories, which advocates, promotes or incites hatred, discrimination or violence, against any individual or group of individuals, based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as religion."
A mysterious [url=http://cm.coe.int/stat/E/Decisions/2001/776/d01_6.htm]second addition[/url] to the treaty discussed soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks would have covered "how to identify, how to filter, and how to trace communications between terrorists." At the time, the Council of Europe confirmed that the proposal existed but it did not become part of the final treaty.
2003-11-20 15:21 | User Profile
[url]http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/34105.html[/url]
US cybercrime push 'imperils personal security' of Americans By John Leyden Posted: 20/11/2003 at 12:27 GMT
White House plans to ratify a Council of Europe Cybercrime treaty will be a disaster for the privacy and security of Americans, Privacy International (PI), the human rights watchdog, claims.
President Bush this week urged Senators to back the adoption of the mutual assistance Treaty into US law. The Treaty, designed to streamline cooperation between signatory countries, will significant expand the power of investigators to access data and prosecute offences ranging from copyright infringement to "hate speech".
PI warns that if the Senate ratifies the Treaty, "dozens of countries will have 'on demand' access to the personal information and communications records of any American they may wish to investigate". This data - including full email logs, phone records and mobile phone location data together with account and financial records - could be "cherry picked" by investigating authorities in countries that ratify the treaty.
Providing the US signs up to the Treaty, the personal details of millions of US citizens will be available "on demand" to Balkan and former communist countries, PI says.
Safeguards? What safeguards?
PI warns that the "low standard of evidence or authentication demanded for these transfers of personal information creates exceptional dangers to many ethnic and minority groups in the US".
The conditions for sharing this information mean that intelligence could concern offences which are criminal in the requesting country, but not in the US. Grounds for refusing to share data are limited.
The ratification of the Treaty would make data regarding US citizens available to governments around the world with little oversight or control, according to PI. It warns the treaty will "open the floodgates for overseas government and private bodies" looking for sensitive personal information.
Only very basic information about the purposes of the data would be given to US officials.
Civil liberties organisations have opposed the treaty from the beginning.
In an open letter two years ago, critics argued: "the convention continues to be a document that threatens the rights of the individual while extending the powers of police authorities, creates a low-barrier protection of rights uniformly across borders, and ignores highly-regarded data protection principles".
Simon Davies, PI director, said the Treaty "imperils the constitutional and judicial protections that Americans enjoy. Ratification will compromise every safeguard in US law. The Treaty is ill considered, regressive and unnecessary and should be rejected by the Senate.
Here is the statement signed by "President Bush", which uses a number of words that he can neither pronounce nor understand. It of course omits the real reason for the treaty -- GFTJ (Good For The Jews):
[url]http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031117-11.html[/url]
Message to the Senate of the United States
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (the "Cybercrime Convention" or the "Convention"), which was signed by the United States on November 23, 2001. In addition, for the information of the Senate, I transmit the report of the Department of State with respect to the Convention and the Convention's official Explanatory Report.
The United States, in its capacity as an observer at the Council of Europe, participated actively in the elaboration of the Convention, which is the only multilateral treaty to address the problems of computer-related crime and electronic evidence gathering. An overview of the Conventions provisions is provided in the report of the Department of State. The report also sets forth proposed reservations and declarations that would be deposited by the United States with its instrument of ratification. With these reservations and declarations, the Convention would not require implementing legislation for the United States.
The Convention promises to be an effective tool in the global effort to combat computer-related crime. It requires Parties to criminalize, if they have not already done so, certain conduct that is committed through, against, or related to computer systems. Such substantive crimes include offenses against the "confidentiality, integrity and availability" of computer data and systems, as well as using computer systems to engage in conduct that would be criminal if committed outside the cyber-realm, i.e., forgery, fraud, child pornography, and certain copyright-related offenses. The Convention also requires Parties to have the ability to investigate computer-related crime effectively and to obtain electronic evidence in all types of criminal investigations and proceedings.
By providing for broad international cooperation in the form of extradition and mutual legal assistance, the Cybercrime Convention would remove or minimize legal obstacles to inter-national cooperation that delay or endanger U.S. investigations and prosecutions of computer-related crime. As such, it would help deny "safe havens" to criminals, including terrorists, who can cause damage to U.S. interests from abroad using computer systems. At the same time, the Convention contains safeguards that protect civil liberties and other legitimate interests.
I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to the Cybercrime Convention, and that it give its advice and consent to ratification, subject to the reservations, declarations, and understanding described in the accompanying report of the Department of State.
GEORGE W. BUSH THE WHITE HOUSE, November 17, 2003.
2003-11-22 02:49 | User Profile
More Treason! From Jorge Bush! :censored: :gunsmilie