U.S. Tries to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet

The New York Times reports U.S. Tries to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet. "Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct ‘peer to peer’ messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages."

In another article, they report that such a proposal is further along in India, Critics Say India’s Spy Plan Deters Businesses.

The ACLU is already on it, Executive Branch Spying Powers Already Too Broad, Says ACLU.

Glenn Greenwald, as always, goes into great depth on the topic, The Obama administration's war on privacy.

And it seems related that Emptywheel writes Obama Doesn’t Know Why the Fuck He’s Entitled to Kill Al-Awlaki, He Just Is, Damnit. "The most striking aspect of the government’s motion to dismiss the ACLU/CCR lawsuit challenging the use of targeted killing is that the government does not commit to the basis for its authority to kill an American citizen like Anwar al-Awlaki with no review."