Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 23:51:52 -0400
To: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com>
From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com>
Subject: DOJ's Anti-Terrorism Law Would Dismantle Civil Liberties
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: September 19, 2001


Contacts:

Shari Steele, EFF Executive Director, ssteele@eff.org,
   +1 415 436-9333 x103

Lee Tien, EFF Senior Staff Attorney, tien@eff.org,
   +1 415 436-9333 x102 (office),
   +1 510 290-7131 (cell)


DOJ's Anti-Terrorism Law Would Dismantle Civil Liberties

Legislate to Improve Security Not Eliminate Freedoms

San Francisco, California - The Electronic Frontier
Foundation (EFF) today criticized the "Mobilization Against
Terrorism Act" proposed by the US Department of Justice
because many provisions of the law would dramatically alter
the civil liberties landscape through unnecessarily broad
restrictions on free speech and privacy rights in the
United States and abroad.

EFF again urged Congress to act with deliberation in
approving only measures that are effective in preventing
terrorism while protecting the freedoms of Americans.

Attorney General John Ashcroft distributed the proposed
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.

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.

One particularly egregious section of the DOJ's analysis of
its proposed legislation says that "United States
prosecutors may use against American citizens information
collected by a foreign government even if the collection
would have violated the Fourth Amendment."

"Operating from abroad, foreign governments will do the
dirty work of spying on the communications of Americans
worldwide. US protections against unreasonable search and
seizure won't matter," commented EFF Senior Staff Attorney
Lee Tien.

Additional provisions of the proposed Mobilization Against
Terrorism Act include measures which:

* Make it possible to obtain e-mail message header
information and Internet user web browsing patterns without
a wiretap order

* Eviscerate controls on roving wiretaps

* Permit law enforcement to disclose information obtained
through wiretaps to any employee of the Executive branch

* Reduce restrictions on domestic investigations under the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)

* Permit grand juries to provide information to the US
intelligence community

* Permit the President to designate any "foreign-directed
individual, group, or entity," including any United States
citizen or organization, as a target for FISA
surveillance

* Prevent people from even talking about terrorist acts

* Establish a DNA database for every person convicted of
any felony or certain sex offenses, almost all of which
are entirely unrelated to terrorism

EFF Executive Director Shari Steele emphasized, "While it
is obviously of vital national importance to respond
effectively to terrorism, this bill recalls the McCarthy
era in the power it would give the government to
scrutinize the private lives of American citizens."

Ashcroft's proposed legislation comes in the wake of the
Senate's hasty passage of the "Combating Terrorism Act"
on the evening of September 13 with less than 30 minutes
of consideration on the Senate floor.


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 websites in the world:
http://www.eff.org/


The proposed Mobilization Against Terrorism Act:
http://www.eff.org/sc/ashcroft_proposal.html

EFF analysis of the Mobilization Against Terrorism Act
[coming soon]:
http://www.eff.org/sc/eff_ashcroft.html

Attorney General John Ashcroft remarks on response to
terrorism from FBI headquarters on September 17, 2001:
http://www.eff.org/sc/ashcroft_statement.html

The Combating Terrorism Act (S1562) passed by the Senate:
http://www.eff.org/sc/wiretap_bill.html

Senator Leahy's testimony on the Combating Terrorism Act:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2001/s091301.html

EFF analysis of the Combating Terrorism Act:
http://www.eff.org/sc/eff_wiretap_bill_analysis.html

Why "backdoor" encryption requirements reduce security:
http://www.crypto.com/papers/escrowrisks98.pdf

         - end -





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