Jodi's mom
01-18-2008, 03:02 PM
This should take PRIORITY to anything that we pay attention to at the moment. The Government has NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to take control of the internet. The internet, I believe, is a gift from God to preserve what little freedoms we have left. If we allow them to take this, the next thing will be will be our guns and then blood will have to spill. Let's use the freedoms we have left now to fight this battle.
For God, Country, and Freedom!
Please forward this to everyone on your list of contacts.
From: The John Birch Society
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 12:58 PM
Subject: Oppose Government Surveillance of All Internet Activity
Oppose Government Surveillance of All Internet Activity Take Action!
Mike McConnell, Director of National Intelligence, is drafting a plan calling for the federal government to secretly watch America's cyberspace, a proposal that will raise obvious personal privacy issues. McConnell tells The New Yorker in the issue which just hit newsstands that his plan will make the current debate over surveillance law look like "a walk in the park."
McConnell acknowledges that, in order to accomplish his plan to protect the Internet from being abused, the government must have the ability to read all the information crossing the Internet throughout the United States. Congressional aides have reported that they are anticipating a fight over civil liberties that will rival the battles over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. (So...let's give them exactly and more of what they are expecting!)
Part of what has irked members of Congress, according to aides, is the meager amount of information the administration has provided. The cyberspace security initiative was first reported in September by The Baltimore Sun, and some congressional aides say that lawmakers have learned more from the media than they did from the few top secret briefings they have received.
Basically, McConnell wants to funnel everything that happens online through the National Security Agency, which would deprive everyone of anything resembling online privacy. According to the author of The New Yorker article:
In order for cyberspace to be policed, Internet activity will have to be closely monitored. Ed Giorgio, who is working with McConnell on the plan, said that would mean giving the government the authority to examine the content of any e-mail, file transfer, or Web search. "Google has records that could help in a cyber-investigation," he said. Giorgio warned me, "We have a saying in this business: 'Privacy and security are a zero-sum game.'"
That would be a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures, and requires that any searches be conducted only upon issuance of a warrant under conditions of probable cause.
The Executive Branch has already been working for many years in almost complete secrecy, with no oversight and no recognition of legal limits, to spy on Americans, first in the name of the War on Drugs, and then in the name of the War on Terror. Despite the blatant illegality of its actions, the federal government wants to see the present situation not only continue, but grow even larger.
Please click on this link (http://www.jbs.org/#SlideFrame_7) to contact your legislators (Click on "How you can help") and ask that they vote against any legislation that violates the constitutional protection of Internet privacy. You do not have to join JBS to use their tools, but they are an excellent organization. They've been fighting the enemies of our country for years.
Please use the following message (http://capwiz.com/jbs/issues/alert/?alertid=10811666) as a guideline to contact your senators. You can edit it, in order to make it more personal and original. Please take advantage of the editing function, to avoid the appearance of a form letter, which experience shows to be less effective.
We need to stay on top of this threat to our freedoms!! The internet is our most important weapon against them and they know it! This is a "sinking ship" crisis. If we don't start baling the water from the ship, we're going down. We've got to stop for a moment to take care of the important matters, because if we don't, we're going to be playing games on the computer, that is IF we're not locked up in some concentration camp for defying their orders.
I suggest we also demand that Mike McConnell be relieved IMMEDIATELY of his duties. I, for one, do not wish to pay the salary of an obvious traitor.
For God, Country, and Freedom!
Please forward this to everyone on your list of contacts.
From: The John Birch Society
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 12:58 PM
Subject: Oppose Government Surveillance of All Internet Activity
Oppose Government Surveillance of All Internet Activity Take Action!
Mike McConnell, Director of National Intelligence, is drafting a plan calling for the federal government to secretly watch America's cyberspace, a proposal that will raise obvious personal privacy issues. McConnell tells The New Yorker in the issue which just hit newsstands that his plan will make the current debate over surveillance law look like "a walk in the park."
McConnell acknowledges that, in order to accomplish his plan to protect the Internet from being abused, the government must have the ability to read all the information crossing the Internet throughout the United States. Congressional aides have reported that they are anticipating a fight over civil liberties that will rival the battles over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. (So...let's give them exactly and more of what they are expecting!)
Part of what has irked members of Congress, according to aides, is the meager amount of information the administration has provided. The cyberspace security initiative was first reported in September by The Baltimore Sun, and some congressional aides say that lawmakers have learned more from the media than they did from the few top secret briefings they have received.
Basically, McConnell wants to funnel everything that happens online through the National Security Agency, which would deprive everyone of anything resembling online privacy. According to the author of The New Yorker article:
In order for cyberspace to be policed, Internet activity will have to be closely monitored. Ed Giorgio, who is working with McConnell on the plan, said that would mean giving the government the authority to examine the content of any e-mail, file transfer, or Web search. "Google has records that could help in a cyber-investigation," he said. Giorgio warned me, "We have a saying in this business: 'Privacy and security are a zero-sum game.'"
That would be a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures, and requires that any searches be conducted only upon issuance of a warrant under conditions of probable cause.
The Executive Branch has already been working for many years in almost complete secrecy, with no oversight and no recognition of legal limits, to spy on Americans, first in the name of the War on Drugs, and then in the name of the War on Terror. Despite the blatant illegality of its actions, the federal government wants to see the present situation not only continue, but grow even larger.
Please click on this link (http://www.jbs.org/#SlideFrame_7) to contact your legislators (Click on "How you can help") and ask that they vote against any legislation that violates the constitutional protection of Internet privacy. You do not have to join JBS to use their tools, but they are an excellent organization. They've been fighting the enemies of our country for years.
Please use the following message (http://capwiz.com/jbs/issues/alert/?alertid=10811666) as a guideline to contact your senators. You can edit it, in order to make it more personal and original. Please take advantage of the editing function, to avoid the appearance of a form letter, which experience shows to be less effective.
We need to stay on top of this threat to our freedoms!! The internet is our most important weapon against them and they know it! This is a "sinking ship" crisis. If we don't start baling the water from the ship, we're going down. We've got to stop for a moment to take care of the important matters, because if we don't, we're going to be playing games on the computer, that is IF we're not locked up in some concentration camp for defying their orders.
I suggest we also demand that Mike McConnell be relieved IMMEDIATELY of his duties. I, for one, do not wish to pay the salary of an obvious traitor.