IP: Gov. Gilmore calls for secret 'Cyber Court' modeled after FISA

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 09:07:23 -0400
> From: tim finin <finin () cs umbc edu>
>
> Governor Calls for 'Cyber Court', Declan McCullagh, Oct. 18, 2001
> http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47676,00.html
>
> WASHINGTON -- Malicious hackers, look out.
>
> A government anti-terrorism commission will recommend that Congress
> create a shadowy court to oversee investigations of suspected computer
> intruders.  Gov. James Gilmore (R-Virginia), the commission's
> chairman, said Wednesday that federal judges have been far too
> sluggish in approving search warrants and eavesdropping of online
> miscreants.  Instead, Gilmore told the House Science committee, the
> commission will recommend that a "cyber court" be created with
> extraordinary powers to authorize electronic surveillance and secret
> searches of suspected hackers' homes and offices.
>
> Police investigations are currently hamstrung by a lack of "effective
> procedures and understanding by many in the judiciary concerning the
> nature and urgency of cyber security," Gilmore said.
>
> Wednesday's hearing comes after members of the House and Senate voted
> overwhelmingly last week to grant police more surveillance powers,
> including the ability to conduct Internet wiretaps without court
> orders in some circumstances.  President Bush asked Congress for the
> legislation after the Sept. 11 attacks.
> ...
> Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-Michigan) suggested additional punitive
> measures. "I think hackers should also be considered terrorists and
> sentences that hackers get should be in line with terrorist
> sentences," Ehlers said.
> ...
> Gilmore offered few details on the proposal to create a
> hacker-court. A House press release says only that the commission will
> recommend the "establishment of a special 'Cyber Court' patterned
> after the court established in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
> Act."  The so-called FISA court is notorious among civil libertarians
> for being a secret, seven-judge court that meets behind closed doors
> to approve surveillance requests in "national security"
> cases. Proceedings are sealed and judges do not require "probable
> cause" -- a legal standard required in ordinary investigations --
> before ordering eavesdropping or surreptitious entries to plant
> listening devices.  Congress created the FISA court in 1978 to oversee
> foreign intelligence investigations that were too sensitive to take
> through the normal process. The FISA judges review the Justice
> Department's requests and, with the exception of one or two cases,
> have always approved them.  Because the FISA court meets in secret,
> and its orders are sealed, subjects are often unaware they're under
> surveillance.
> ...
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