MySpace, Google, and the Path to Tyranny

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: May 22, 2007 11:46:11 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: MySpace, Google, and the Path to Tyranny



                MySpace, Google, and the Path to Tyranny

              http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000240.html


Dave,

The current controversy regarding MySpace -- where they've now
agreed to turn over Sentinel Tech data that purports to match
registered sex offenders to MySpace profiles -- is nothing less than
a harbinger of how easily the entire Net could become even more of a
surveilled space than it is now.

At first, when some states demanded this data, MySpace refused,
seeming to properly cite privacy laws.  When the demands escalated
and media attention became intense, MySpace buckled.  It is not
entirely clear from press accounts to what extent those states that
will now receive the data have served MySpace with the appropriate
legal documents to enable the legal release of data, or whether
MySpace has now "altered" their interpretation of the relevant laws.

In either case, states are now also apparently planning to demand
copies of all related e-mails, and in some cases already threatening
to require even more data retention (including e-mails), positive
identification of all users of "social networking" sites, and so on.

What makes this situation so dangerous to honest, law-abiding
Internet users is that nobody wants to make things easier for sex
offenders -- though one might assume that many sex offenders are
smart enough not to use their real names on MySpace if they have
offenses in mind.

But the use of sex offenders as a wedge is providing the perfect
tool for those who would ultimately require every Internet user to
provide a credit card number or similar instrument to positively ID
themselves before accessing any Internet discussion forum, mailing
list, or search engine (you never know what evil links might be
found, right?), and to push for universal long-term data retention
of all e-mails and other data.

Demands for universal ID on the Net appear inevitable, once it is
generally understood that the fundamental nature of the Internet
means that "forbidden" conversations (on any topic) can occur
anywhere.  Once MySpace and other self-described social networking
sites are nailed down with ID requirements, children and adults who
wish to protect their anonymity and privacy (for good or ill) will
simply migrate to other venues, either above or below ground.  In
fact, this is likely already going on, but to the extent that it's
underground it is not subject to simple observation.

I've had people suggest to me in all seriousness that nobody should
be able to access Google or ultimately any sites without certified
identification and what amounts to an Internet "drivers' license."

Why does Google keep coming up in this context?  Because they are
viewed by many persons (who want total control of the Internet) as
the major enabling agent that allows people to find the forbidden
fruit.  Without Google's comprehensive facilities, such folks
reason, it would be much harder for anyone -- children or adults --
to locate those "dangerous sites" -- however "dangerous" is being
defined at the moment.

That sort of reasoning could easily lead to laws that would be
extremely hazardous to Google and other search engines' continued
basic operations.  Such laws could also turn the Internet into the
most effective tool for oppressive surveillance dreamt of by any
dictatorship -- all in the ostensible name of -- as television's
Agent 86 Maxwell Smart used to say many years ago -- "the forces of
goodness and niceness."

This is why we must take a stand.  We all want to rein in child
predators.  But allowing the hysteria surrounding admittedly heinous
crimes to distort our basic foundations of free speech and
technology would be a terrible mistake.  To use child abuse as an
excuse for broad Internet identification and data retention
requirements would itself be a massive abuse to civil liberties and
would in fact create yet more underground problems and widespread,
major unintended negative consequences.

The future will look back on this period as a crossroads between
technological freedoms and tyranny.  We must not be seduced by
fear into taking tyranny's preferred path.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
   - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Founder, CIFIP
   - California Initiative For Internet Privacy - http://www.cifip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com


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