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U.S. Wants to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet

Sep 27, 2010  •  Post A Comment

The United States government wants to make it easier to wiretap the Internet, reports the New York Times.

According to the article, "Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is “going dark” as people increasingly communicate online instead of by telephone."

This includes being able to tap into social media.

The story says, "Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct ‘peer to peer’ messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages. "

One Comment

  1. The underlying principle seems to be that people should not be allowed to communicate without the government having the ability to listen in.

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