WASHINGTON – When U.S. senators quiz President Bush's choice for FBI director on Monday, they should ask what he thinks about Americans' privacy rights.
That's what the Electronic Privacy Information Center says. In a letter sent to the Senate Judiciary committee, EPIC asks senators to probe Robert Mueller's views on surveillance and the Freedom of Information Act.
"Given the increased public concern over the use of new and potentially invasive technologies by law enforcement agencies, it would be appropriate to solicit Mr. Mueller's views on this issue," the letter says.
Earlier this month Bush nominated Mueller, 56, to succeed Louis Freeh – whose eight years as FBI director were marked by a series of embarrassing scandals including the response to murders at Ruby Ridge, the Robert Hanssen spy scandal and misplaced documents in the Timothy McVeigh case.
The FBI has also come under fire for its since-renamed Carnivore surveillance system.
The hearing begins at 1 p.m. EDT Monday.
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Save our law: Conservative legislators are trying a last-gasp attempt to save a Net smut law.
In an amicus brief filed Friday, four legislators including Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) are asking the Supreme Court to uphold the law as constitutional.
It says: "Commercial pornography is big business and a major presence on the Web.... Children, as well as adults (can) view hard-core and soft-core porn pictures by simply clicking on any link to a pornography company's Web page, even when searching for innocent material such as 'teen,' 'boy,' 'girl,' 'toy,' 'pet,' etc."
So far antiporn groups have had zero luck defending the law. A federal judge in Philadelphia said it violated Americans' free speech rights and an appeals court agreed.
In May, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, involving the Child Online Protection Act.
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Surveillance spending: It's another muggy Washington summer, which means that politicians on Capitol Hill are again crafting next year's federal budget. It funds the U.S. government for the fiscal year beginning in October.
According to the report accompanying a spending bill that's awaiting a floor vote in the Senate:
- The FBI will receive an extra $7 million for technology to thwart encryption. The appropriations committee intends for it to be spent on: "(1) analysis/exploitation of systems to allow access to data pre-encryption, (2) recognition/decryption of data hidden in plain sight, and (3) decryption of encrypted data."
- Another $7 million goes to a plan to improve "intercept capabilities." The fed-speak for this is "developing broadband capabilities, and procuring prototypes capable of intercepting transmissions outside of the FBI's technical reach." Translation: Create better ways to eavesdrop on cable modems and DSL connections.
- Antitrust enforcement gets a boost. The division, best known recently for its dogged pursuit of Microsoft, receives $3.6 million extra, but $10 million less than the Bush administration requested. The committee predicts a slew of mergers because of "the collapse of high technology stocks, and the resultant downward pressure on all stock prices."
- Las Vegas, St. Louis, Charleston and Kansas City will split $6 million earmarked for gun surveillance technology. The plan is to spend it on acoustic sensors scattered around downtown areas so the location of a gunshot can be triangulated and located.
Bloody art: EBay has yanked artwork that depicted Rep. Gary Condit (D-California) in less-than-flattering terms.
The Los Angeles Times reported this week that it removed a piece of art for sale about the disappearance of Chandra Levy after Condit complained it violated his "intellectual property" rights.
"We were contacted by a representative from the congressman's office in Washington.... He believed the item was 'a violation of the congressman's right of publicity, based upon the use of his name or image,'" an EBay spokesman told the paper.
The Times didn't include the address to the artwork, but we will: .
It's a not-particularly-interesting collage with an axe, "RED RUM," and references to O.J. Simpson and former President Clinton.
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Jail Dmitry: The feds are refusing to "Free Dmitry." A meeting Friday between federal prosecutors and representatives of the Electronic Frontier Foundation was a stalemate: EFF wants Dmitry Sklyarov released, and the U.S. attorney's office refused.
In response, geektavists are planning to continue with a planned series of protests against the Justice Department – which persuaded Adobe to back down on its support for the prosecution, but may have little effect on the government.
The Russian programmer is charged with trafficking in a program to bypass Adobe's copy protection for e-books, a federal felony under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
