In article <e8ebd11b-8682-4dd6-80d9-
6fe74f02dd5d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
igor_the_terrible@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
says...
> For situations like this M61s and tractor trailor loads of ammo are
> absolute miracle workers. Better yet, they are cheaper than elections
> (or recalls), tie up less TV air time, and such solutions are long
> term and very effective. :D
>
>
>
>
>
> ACLU: Military skirting law to spy By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated
> Press Writer
> Tue Apr 1, 7:42 PM ET
>
>
>
> NEW YORK - The military is using the FBI to skirt legal restrictions
> on domestic surveillance to obtain private records of Americans'
> Internet service providers, financial institutions and telephone
> companies, the ACLU said Tuesday.
>
> The American Civil Liberties Union based its conclusion on a review of
> more than 1,000 do***ents turned over by the Defense Department after
> it sued the agency last year for do***ents related to national
> security letters. The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court.
>
> The letters are investigative tools used to compel businesses to turn
> over customer information without a judge's order or grand jury
> subpoena.
>
> ACLU lawyer Melissa Goodman said the do***ents the civil rights group
> studied "make us incredibly concerned that the FBI and DoD might be
> collaborating to evade limits put on the DoD's use of NSLs."
>
> It would be understandable if the military relied on help from the FBI
> on joint investigations, but not when the FBI was not involved in a
> probe, she said.
>
> The FBI referred requests for comment Tuesday to the Defense
> Department. A department spokesman, Air Force Lt. Col. Patrick Ryder,
> said in an e-mail that the department had made "focused, limited and
> judicious" use of the letters since Congress extended the capability
> to investigatory entities other than the FBI in 2001.
>
> He said the department had acted legally in using a necessary
> investigatory tool and noted that "unusual financial activity of
> people affiliated with DoD can be an indication of potential espionage
> or terrorist-related activity."
>
> Ryder said the information in the ACLU claims came in part from an
> internal review of DoD's use of the letters.
>
> "We have since developed training and provided it to the services for
> their use," he said.
>
> He said that there was no law requiring it to track use of the letters
> but that the department had decided it was in its best interest to do
> so.
>
> Goodman, a staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project,
> said the military is allowed to demand financial and credit records in
> certain instances but does not have the authority to get e-mail and
> phone records or lists of Web sites that people have visited. That is
> the kind of information that the FBI can get by using a national
> security letter, she said.
>
> "That's why we're particularly concerned. The DoD may be accessing the
> kinds of records they are not allowed to get," she said.
>
> Goodman also noted that legal limits are placed on the Defense
> Department "because the military doing domestic investigations tends
> to make us leery."
>
> In other allegations, the ACLU said:
>
> * The Navy's use of the letters to demand domestic records has
> increased significantly since the Sept. 11 attacks.
>
> * The military wrongly claimed its use of the letters was limited to
> investigating only Defense Department employees.
>
> * The Defense Department has not kept track of how many national
> security letters the military issues or what information it obtained
> through the orders.
>
> * The military provided misleading information to Congress and
> silenced letter recipients from speaking out about the records
> requests.
>
> Goodman said Congress should provide stricter guidelines and
> meaningful oversight of how the military and FBI make national
> security letter requests.
>
> "Any government agency's ability to demand these kinds of personal,
> financial or Internet records in the United States is an intrusive
> surveillance power," she said.
>
It depends on what kind of information is being overheard. Notice
I didn't say "What kind is being recorded", but rather, overheard.
|
