FC: FBI gets cash to spend on anti-encryption, broadband snooping

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,45632,00.html

   According to the report accompanying a spending bill that's awaiting a
   floor vote in the Senate:

     * The FBI will receive an extra $7 million for technology to thwart
       encryption. The appropriations committee intends for it to be
       spent on: "(1) analysis/exploitation of systems to allow access to
       data pre-encryption, (2) recognition/decryption of data hidden in
       plain sight, and (3) decryption of encrypted data."
     * Another $7 million goes to a plan to improve "intercept
       capabilities." The fed-speak for this is "developing broadband
       capabilities, and procuring prototypes capable of intercepting
       transmissions outside of the FBI's technical reach." Translation:
       Create better ways to eavesdrop on cable modems and DSL
       connections.
     * Antitrust enforcement gets a boost. The division, best known
       recently for its dogged pursuit of Microsoft, receives $3.6
       million extra, but $10 million less than the Bush administration
       requested. The committee predicts a slew of mergers because of
       "the collapse of high technology stocks, and the resultant
       downward pressure on all stock prices."
     * Las Vegas, St. Louis, Charleston and Kansas City will split $6
       million earmarked for gun surveillance technology. The plan is to
       spend it on acoustic sensors scattered around downtown areas so
       the location of a gunshot can be triangulated and located.




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