FC: Reports from DC: Bush anti-terror bill, pro-liberty coalition

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46953,00.html

   Bush Bill Rewrites Spy Laws
   By Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)
   2:00 a.m. Sep. 19, 2001 PDT

   WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration will ask for more power to
   eavesdrop on phone calls, the Internet and voicemail messages,
   according to an outline of a bill obtained by Wired News.

   In response to last week's catastrophic terrorist attacks, President
   Bush plans to ask Congress to approve far-reaching legislation that
   rewrites U.S. laws dealing with electronic surveillance, immigration
   and support for terrorists.

   "We will call upon the Congress of the United States to enact these
   important anti-terrorism measures this week," Attorney General John
   Ashcroft said Monday. "We need these tools to fight the terrorism
   threat which exists in the United States, and we must meet that
   growing threat."

   According to the two-page outline -- which lacks key details and could
   change before it's sent to Capitol Hill -- police would be able to
   conduct more wiretaps and use the Carnivore surveillance system in
   more situations without court orders. That section of the bill appears
   to mirror an amendment the Senate approved last Thursday evening.

   No restrictions on encryption products, a prospect feared by some
   civil libertarians, appear in the outline.

   The bill hands prosecutors a courtroom edge, saying that accused
   terrorists should stay in jail by default, that detention of suspected
   terrorists is "mandatory," and that the Immigration and Naturalization
   Service will have more authority to kick immigrants suspected of being
   terrorists out of the United States.

   [...]

**********

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46959,00.html

   Coalition to Congress: Slow Down
   By Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)
   7:00 a.m. Sep. 19, 2001 PDT

   WASHINGTON -- Dozens of groups worried about the future of free
   speech, privacy and other liberties in wartime have gathered together
   to ask Congress to tread carefully.

   A quickly organized alliance of liberal, libertarian and conservative
   organizations, tentatively named the In Defense of Freedom coalition,
   says legislators should not rush to rewrite wiretapping, immigration
   and surveillance laws.

   At noon Thursday, the group will hold a press conference at the
   National Press Club to present a list of principles they hope Congress
   will follow when weighing laws in response to last week's attacks on
   the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

   [...]

**********

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46900,00.html

   Geeks Gather to Back Crypto
   By Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)
   2:00 a.m. Sep. 17, 2001 PDT

   CATONSVILLE, Maryland -- Rob Carlson is worried about something that
   most Americans would consider entirely obscure: the future of
   encryption technology.

   Carlson, a 21-year-old programmer who typically sports a floppy,
   pin-studded safari hat, fears that the U.S. Congress, in the wake of
   last week's bloody attacks, may vote for anti-terrorism legislation
   that also threatens privacy. "There's nothing as permanent as a
   temporary restriction," he says.

   In an announcement distributed online Friday, Carlson suggested that
   like-minded geeks gather at the University of Maryland's Baltimore
   County campus on Saturday and Sunday "in order to get the word out
   about the importance of civil liberties" and prepare for the worst on
   Capitol Hill.

**********

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46915,00.html

   What Future War Looks Like
   By Declan McCullagh and Ben Polen
   2:00 a.m. Sep. 18, 2001 PDT

   President Bush has warned of a "different type of war" on terrorism.
   Wired News asked Stephen Sloan, a professor of political science at
   the University of Oklahoma, what a 21st century war might mean.
   Sloan's books include Simulating Terrorism and the Historical
   Dictionary of Terrorism. He has also served as a consultant to the
   U.S. military.

   [...]

**********

From: "Bridis, Ted" <Ted.Bridis () dowjones com>
To: "'declan () well com'" <declan () well com>
Subject: DOJ seeks changes to law on bio attacks
Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 10:11:14 -0400

http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB1000851795317977400.htm

September 19, 2001

Justice Department Seeks Approval
For Wide Antiterrorism Legislation

By TED BRIDIS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department is asking Congress to approve
unexpectedly wide-ranging antiterrorism legislation that includes provisions
covering everything from criminals wielding biological weapons, to use of
DNA in terrorist investigations and police seizure of office voice mail.

A draft of the proposal, called the Mobilization Against Terrorism Act and
provided to Republican lawmakers this week, includes sections on
intelligence, immigration, corporate records sought by police, U.S.
cooperation with foreign governments and tax disclosures. The draft goes
beyond specific requests to Congress made this week by Attorney General John
Ashcroft, who has so far focused publicly on the need for legislation to
relax restrictions on telephone and Internet wiretaps, and to strengthen
laws against money laundering.

The speed with which such proposals are moving -- the Senate already
approved some changes to U.S. wiretap laws last week -- has alarmed some
critics who say the Justice Department hasn't adequately explained its
sweeping plans.

Mr. Ashcroft said the changes are needed "to be able to fight effectively
against terrorism," and he praised lawmakers for "their ideas, their
comments, their suggestions and their support for a package that we would
hope to have ready in the next few days." Some criticism has come from
Republican lawmakers. In a letter to Mr. Ashcroft, Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia
warned of a "vast expansion of government power in a misguided attempt to
protect freedom," an effort that would "inevitably erode the very freedoms
we seek to protect."

National civil-liberties groups have quietly joined to form a single
coalition, to be announced tomorrow, to urge that Congress and the White
House take more time to weigh the Justice Department's requests.
Representatives of dozens of these groups met here late last week to draft a
statement of principles. The groups include the American Civil Liberties
Union, the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Free Congress
Foundation, as well as immigration, Arab-American and church groups.

The proposals include "things that are subject to abuse, that will be
abused," said Morton H. Halperin, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign
Relations. "We're going to try to slow down the process, so that these
things are done in an orderly and public way."

"Policy makers are being careful figuring out who to target in the Middle
East," added Jerry Berman, head of the Center for Democracy and Technology.
"They should be just as careful to figure out what to target in the
Constitution, so we don't experience collateral damage."

The coalition hasn't invited any corporations to join, believing that
companies would be reluctant to give the impression that they oppose
antiterrorism measures. But some proposals, including one affecting
"business records" sought by police, could be costly for corporations if it
is mandated that records be retained for long periods. The technology
industry previously has fought requirements that Internet companies keep
records about subscribers' use of the Internet, citing high costs and
privacy concerns. "We're not in the data-storage business," said America
Online spokesman Nicholas Graham.

"It's got everybody's antenna twitching," said Harris Miller, head of the
Information Technology Association of America, which isn't part of the
coalition. "Clearly if it does affect things like record retention, then it
potentially creates huge expense, liability and privacy issues."

Many companies probably will do much of their lobbying behind the scenes.
AOL Time Warner Inc., the Internet and entertainment company, is "deeply
interested in learning the details of each proposal," Mr. Graham said.

Mr. Halperin said the civil-liberties groups face the same dilemma, risking
a public impression that they are soft on terrorism if they oppose the
Justice Department's proposals.

**********




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