IP: White House report says government wants to trace Net users

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 07:45:13 -0500
> From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
>
> The forthcoming report:
>   http://www.politechbot.com/docs/unlawfulconduct.html
>
> *********
>
> http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34720,00.html
>
>                        U.S. Wants to Trace Net Users
>                        by Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)
>
>                        3:00 a.m. 4.Mar.2000 PST
>                        WASHINGTON -- The ease of hiding one's
>                        identity on the Net is giving police
>                        migraines and justifies providing broad
>                        new powers to law enforcement, the
>                        White House says in a forthcoming report.
>
>                        The federal government should take steps
>                        to improve online traceability and promote
>                        international cooperation to identify
>                        Internet users, according to a draft of
>                        the report commissioned by President
>                        Clinton.
>
>                        Police should be able to determine the
>                        source of hacker attacks or "anonymous
>                        emails that contain bomb threats," states
>                        the 200 KB document prepared by a
>                        high-level working group chaired by
>                        Attorney General Janet Reno.
>
>                        Although the report was largely complete
>                        before last month's prominent
>                        denial-of-service attacks, it will likely
>                        influence the debate over how the U.S.
>                        government should respond to them.
>
>                        The FBI has not made any arrests during
>                        its investigation, and bureau officials
>                        Tuesday told Congress that anonymity
>                        and the global nature of the Internet
>                        pose serious problems.
>
>                        A White House spokesman said the report
>                        is being finalized and "should be released
>                        very soon."
>
>                        The Working Group on Unlawful Conduct
>                        on the Internet, which Clinton created in
>                        August 1999 to consider new laws or
>                        educational programs, includes senior
>                        administration officials such as FBI
>                        Director Louis Freeh, Treasury Secretary
>                        Larry Summers, Commerce Secretary
>                        William Daley, and representatives from
>                        the military, DEA, and Secret Service.
>
>                        The group focused on what it views as
>                        the problem of anonymity, citing "the
>                        need for real-time tracing of Internet
>                        communications across traditional
>                        jurisdictional boundaries, both
>                        domestically and internationally [and] the
>                        need to track down sophisticated users
>                        who commit unlawful acts on the Internet
>                        while hiding their identities," according to
>                        the report.
>
>                        Currently no laws require Internet users in
>                        the United States to reveal their
>                        identities before signing up for accounts,
>                        and both fee-based and free services
>                        offer anonymous mail, Web browsing, and
>                        dialup connections.
>
>                        Internet service providers should be
>                        encouraged, though not required, to
>                        maintain detailed records of what their
>                        users are doing online. "Some industry
>                        members may not retain certain system
>                        data long enough to permit law
>                        enforcement to identify online offenders,"
>                        the report says.
>
>                        [...]
>
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