The forthcoming report:
http://www.politechbot.com/docs/unlawfulconduct.html
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http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34720,00.html
U.S. Wants to Trace Net Users
by Declan McCullagh ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
3:00 a.m. 4.Mar.2000 PST
WASHINGTON -- The ease of hiding one's
identity on the Net is giving police
migraines and justifies providing broad
new powers to law enforcement, the
White House says in a forthcoming report.
The federal government should take steps
to improve online traceability and promote
international cooperation to identify
Internet users, according to a draft of
the report commissioned by President
Clinton.
Police should be able to determine the
source of hacker attacks or "anonymous
emails that contain bomb threats," states
the 200 KB document prepared by a
high-level working group chaired by
Attorney General Janet Reno.
Although the report was largely complete
before last month's prominent
denial-of-service attacks, it will likely
influence the debate over how the U.S.
government should respond to them.
The FBI has not made any arrests during
its investigation, and bureau officials
Tuesday told Congress that anonymity
and the global nature of the Internet
pose serious problems.
A White House spokesman said the report
is being finalized and "should be released
very soon."
The Working Group on Unlawful Conduct
on the Internet, which Clinton created in
August 1999 to consider new laws or
educational programs, includes senior
administration officials such as FBI
Director Louis Freeh, Treasury Secretary
Larry Summers, Commerce Secretary
William Daley, and representatives from
the military, DEA, and Secret Service.
The group focused on what it views as
the problem of anonymity, citing "the
need for real-time tracing of Internet
communications across traditional
jurisdictional boundaries, both
domestically and internationally [and] the
need to track down sophisticated users
who commit unlawful acts on the Internet
while hiding their identities," according to
the report.
Currently no laws require Internet users in
the United States to reveal their
identities before signing up for accounts,
and both fee-based and free services
offer anonymous mail, Web browsing, and
dialup connections.
Internet service providers should be
encouraged, though not required, to
maintain detailed records of what their
users are doing online. "Some industry
members may not retain certain system
data long enough to permit law
enforcement to identify online offenders,"
the report says.
[...]
