[Think] [EFF ACTION ALERT] Surveillance Legislation Continues to Threaten Privacy
Fen Labalme
fen@comedia.com
23 Sep 2001 00:11:29 -0700
For the entire Newsletter that the following alert is treprinted from, see
http://www.eff.org/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/current.html
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ALERT: Surveillance Legislation Continues to Threaten Privacy
Act Today to Call for More Careful Consideration and Moderation
Electronic Frontier Foundation ACTION ALERT
(Issued: Friday, September 21, 2001 / Deadline: Monday, September 24, 2001)
Introduction:
San Francisco, California - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
urges continued activism against the "Anti-Terrorism Act" (ATA)
[a.k.a. "Mobilization Against Terrorism Act" (MATA)], proposed by the
US Department of Justice, and related legislation (presently 3 bills),
because many provisions of the bills would dramatically alter the
civil liberties landscape through unnecessarily broad restrictions on
free speech and privacy rights in the United States and abroad. Your
urgent action is needed TODAY.
EFF again urges Congress to act with deliberation in approving only
measures that are effective in preventing terrorism while protecting
the freedoms of Americans.
EFF believes this broad legislation would radically tip the United
States system of checks and balances, giving the government
unprecedented authority to surveil American citizens with little
judicial or other oversight.
Ashcroft's proposed legislation (distributed Sep. 19) comes in the
wake of the Senate's hasty passage of the "Combating Terrorism Act"
(CTA) on the evening of Sep. 13 with less than 30 minutes of
consideration on the Senate floor. On Sep. 20, Rep. Lamar Smith
circulated a draft bill very similar to CTA, called the Public Safety
and Cyber Security Enhancement Act (PSCSEA). A fourth and more
reasoned bill of this nature, from Sen. Patrick Leahy, is expected
soon.
The ATA/MATA is currently a draft bill, subject to a Senate Judiciary
Committee hearing and briefing on Mon., Sep. 24. The CTA is presently
a Senate-passed amendment to a House appropriations bill. It is
expected to be voted on in joint conference committee early next week.
The only real pressure point on the CTA is the conference committee;
whatever emerges will almost certainly pass both houses
near-unanimously. PSCSEA's future is uncertain at this point, as is
that of Sen. Leahy's (presently unavailble) draft.
What YOU Can Do Now:
* Contact your own legislators about the ATA/MATA, the CTA and the
PSCSEA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Call them, and fax and/or e-mail the
EFF letter below today. For best effect, the messages you send
should be sent the morning of Mon. Sep. 24 or this weekend if
possible. Postal mail will be too slow on this issue. Feel free to
use this letter verbatim, or modify it as you wish. Let them know
that you do not believe liberty must be sacrified for security.
Please be polite and concise, but firm. For information on how to
contact your legislators and other government officials, see EFF's
"Contacting Congress and Other Policymakers" guide at:
http://www.eff.org/congress.html
* Contact the conference committee members about the CTA AS SOON AS
POSSIBLE. A similar sample letter for this purpose, plus contact
information, is provided below.
* Join EFF! For membership information see:
http://www.eff.org/support/
Sample Letters:
To save space, since this issue has two alerts, please see the
Web-posted version of this alert for the sample letters:
http://www.eff.org/alerts/20010921_eff_wiretap_alert.html
NEW: Easier committee contacts! All of the committee members' e-mail
addresses (other than Hollings who only provides a web form, and
several Represenatives who can only be e-mailed through the WriteRep
form) are available as a copy-pasteable block of addresses you can
simply paste into the "To:" header in your e-mail program to mail them
all at once. Acting on this alert should only take a few minutes.
Aren't your civil liberties worth that much time?
Background:
Attorney General John Ashcroft distributed the proposed Anti-Terrorism
Act/Mobilization Against Terrorism Act to members of Congress after
Monday's press conference at which he indicated that, among other
measures, he would ask Congress to expand the ability of law
enforcement officers to perform wiretaps in response to the terrorist
attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Ashcroft asked
Congress to pass anti-terrorism legislation including "expanded
electronic surveillance" by the end of this week. The PSCSEA bill
appears to be a "backup plan" for S.A. 1562; if it does not pass as
part of H.R. 2500, it can be reintroduced separately in slightly
different form as a new bill. Sen. Patrick Leahy is also expected to
introduce a more moderate proposal sometime early next week.
More analysis and commentary is available in the Web-posted version of
this alert:
http://www.eff.org/alerts/20010921_eff_wiretap_alert.html
For bill texts and analyses, see the EFF Surveillance Archive:
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/
Senator Leahy's testimony on the Combating Terrorism Act:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2001/s091301.html
Why "backdoor" encryption requirements reduce security:
http://www.crypto.com/papers/escrowrisks98.pdf
About EFF:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties
organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded
in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and
government to support free expression, privacy, and openness in the
information society. EFF is a member-supported organization and
maintains one of the most linked-to Web sites in the world:
http://www.eff.org
Contact:
Shari Steele, EFF Executive Director
ssteele@eff.org
+1 415-436-9333 x103
Lee Tien, EFF Senior First Amendment Attorney
tien@eff.org
+1 415-436-9333 x102