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We don't need no stinkin' Patriot Act

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Originally posted by: Ornery
"...why is this tool required?"
H.R.3162
  • ENHANCED SURVEILLANCE PROCEDURES
  • INTERNATIONAL MONEY LAUNDERING ABATEMENT
  • International Counter Money Laundering and Related Measures
  • Bank Secrecy Act Amendments and Related Improvements
  • PROTECTING THE BORDER
  • REMOVING OBSTACLES TO INVESTIGATING TERRORISM
  • INCREASED INFORMATION SHARING FOR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION
  • STRENGTHENING THE CRIMINAL LAWS AGAINST TERRORISM
  • IMPROVED INTELLIGENCE
  • COUNTERTERRORISM FUND
  • EXPANSION OF NATIONAL ELECTRONIC CRIME TASK FORCE INITIATIVE
  • AUTHORITY TO INTERCEPT WIRE, ORAL, AND ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS RELATING TO TERRORISM
  • AUTHORITY TO SHARE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE INFORMATION...
More?
I'm surprised the list doesn't frigthen you. "Removing the obstacles to investigate terrorism," "authority to intercept wire, oral and electronic communications relating to terrorism," "Bank Secrecy Act Amendments and Related Improvements"

That doesn't sicken you? Its so obviously an overstepping of Government bounds. We had a constitution for a reason.
 
I'd rather we didn't have to deal with terrorism in the first place. Let's just say, terrorism sickens me MORE!
 
Originally posted by: Ornery
I'd rather we didn't have to deal with terrorism in the first place. Let's just say, terrorism sickens me MORE!
You don't get it do you. The Patriot Act has far greater reach then simply terrorism (hell its being used in a case against PayPal right now). It has to do with more government control and zero privacy for private citizens. Hell they can search your house now and provide a warrant after the fact (if they find anything, if not, well congrats, you're privacy's been violated for no reason).

Terrorism is just a scape goat used to appeal to the masses. Here's Ben Franklin on the subject: "Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security, will not have, nor do they deserve, either one"
 
Originally posted by: Ornery
Like I said, what's your alternative? Uh, "improve our agencies"?

Like I said, I think we should start by cleaning up our own act. Improving our image outside of the US wouldn't hurt either. I do not think spying on US citizens is the answer at all. In fact, I think this kind of thing is terrorism of the worst sort, terrorism from those that are supposed to be looking after the people they are terrorizing. I now have to worry about someone going to my house and through my things because of the books I read. How is that not terrorism?
 
I have nothing to hide so this doesn't bother me.
They can check my supermarket to see my tampax.
It's great they can know my time of the month.
 
"You do not consider privacy an essential liberty?"

How much do you want? Do you know how much info a private investigator can legally gather on you right now? Should that be made illegal, so that you'll have MORE privacy? Where are we to draw the line?
 
Originally posted by: hoiky
I have nothing to hide so this doesn't bother me.
They can check my supermarket to see my tampax.
It's great they can know my time of the month.

What about those of us that do not want our personal secret information known to strangers? What about people in the government that could get confidential business information and use it to their advantage? You may not enjoy your privacy, but some of us do. But that does not in any way mean we are doing something wrong.
 
Originally posted by: Ornery
"You do not consider privacy an essential liberty?"

How much do you want? Do you know how much info a private investigator can legally gather on you right now?

Yes, and I think that is a travesty.

Should that be made illegal, so that you'll have MORE privacy?

Much of it, yes.

Where are we to draw the line?

Where can we put the line so that our rights are protected to the fullest extent?

Why should my house be searched because of the books I read? And all of this without a warrant! It is, plain and simple, ridiculous.
 
Originally posted by: notfred
I still think that anyone who thinks measures short of my suggestion will repair this country is kidding themselves, unfortunately.

I fully agree. I've felt that way since 96, and I even went so far as to send Clinton a letter saying that a revolution was in the gloaming... it may even happen in our lifetime.
 
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and
no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or
affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the
persons or things to be seized.

That is from the US Constitution. Read all of it and follow it!

Once you start to read it, you will find that this illegitimate government is not our own and has been circumventing the Constitution for a long time.

Those who would give up liberty for security will have neither.

You don't protect rights by destroying them!

You want security? Get armed! Put the Army on the US border! Don't abuse my right to protect myself!

Crimes will always happen. There will always be criminals.

Want a review on what the USAPatriot Act? Check out the link in my sig.
 
Ornery, you might have some semblance of a misguided point if this were something that congress passed,but the fact that since congress wasn't going to pass any legislation the executive branch decided to bypass them doesn't bother you at all? I know that we have never had a democracy, just a joke... er,republic, but this is bordering on dictatorship.
 
Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
I think Ornery has some horrible blinders on. He is only seeing part of the picture and refuses to see the rest.

Not any different than the majority of the Country unfortunately.
 
Patriot Act

vic, danj, nc0monkey that link is for you. It's obvious you've never even bothered to read it and you're letting some "the sky is falling" website do your thinking for you.
 
Originally posted by: DaveSohmer
Patriot Act

vic, danj, nc0monkey that link is for you. It's obvious you've never even bothered to read it and you're letting some "the sky is falling" website do your thinking for you.

Yet another problem with our legal system. Unreadable documents.
 
The "USA Patriot Act of 2001": Electronic Surveillance and Privacy
  • The anti-terrorism legislation is intended to expand intelligence and law enforcement capability to identify and disrupt terrorist activities, and includes provisions that, among other things, enhance law enforcement surveillance abilities, expand law enforcement powers to prosecute money laundering, toughen penalties for terrorist acts, and tighten immigration laws. The measure also gives intelligence and law enforcement operations the ability to share vital information on potential terrorist activities in order to prevent terrorist acts before they happen.
  • Attorney General John Ashcroft told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the new laws were necessary ?to perform two related critical tasks: First, prevent more terrorism, and second, to bring terrorists to justice.?
  • Current laws were written decades ago, crafted for rotary telephones ? not email, the Internet, mobile communications, and voicemail... ...As General Ashcroft noted recently, the Act represents ?long overdue improvements in our capacity to prevent terrorism? because ?technology has dramatically outpaced our statutes.?
  • The Act expands the list of crimes that may serve as the basis for the issuance of wiretap orders to include additional crimes related to terrorism (§ 201) and crimes relating to computer fraud and abuse (§ 202). Thus, for example, a wiretap order may now issue to intercept voice communications in computer hacking investigations.
  • Another change put in place by the Act permits the seizure of unopened voicemail messages pursuant to a warrant, as opposed to through a wiretap order, which is more difficult to obtain.
  • Wiretap orders and search warrants must be supported by probable cause. Thus, where the government seeks a warrant to retrieve the content of a suspect?s communications or to carry out a search or seizure of property, the government still must meet an evidentiary burden to the satisfaction of a federal court.
  • An owner or operator of a computer network may now authorize law enforcement to intercept a computer trespasser?s wire or electronic communications on the network where the communications will be relevant to an investigation and the interception does not acquire communications other than those transmitted to or from the computer trespasser. Thus, companies, universities, or other computer system operators can now obtain assistance from law enforcement authorities when they come under attack from trespassing hackers. This authority eliminates the need for law enforcement to first obtain a court order before performing the surveillance activities now authorized under this provision. The Department of Justice analogizes this new power to a homeowner calling the police and asking them to come into his home and help catch a burglar already inside. This section does not apply in the situation of a user who has simply violated the conditions of his agreement with the computer system operator (e.g., a system member who violates agreement by sending out spam).
  • If, pursuant to § 216 of the Act, the government uses its own technology on the network of a service provider ? for example, FBI?s ?Carnivore,? which tracks internet usage ? then it must establish and ?audit trail? and file a report with the court about its activities. Specifically, a record concerning the installation and operation of the device must be filed under seal with the court. The Act fur ther requires the government to use the latest available technology to insure that content of any communication is not intercepted.
  • The ACLU attributes the passage of the USA Patriot Act to the ?faulty assumption that safety must come at the expense of civil liberties.? ...This fear stems from what the organization sees as an overly broad definition of what constitutes terrorism.
  • The Center for Democracy & Technology views the USA Patriot Act as ?gutting? privacy standards. The Center points to the fact that several of the new provisions chip away at judicial review of government surveillance procedures, thereby shielding them from independent review and opening them up to abuse.
  • The Electronic Frontier Foundation has also criticized the Act.
  • In part to respond to the concerns about how the law will impact civil liberties, Congress provided in § 224 of the Act that several of the new surveillance powers granted to law enforcement would ?sunset? in four years, i.e., lapse, unless re-enacted by Congress. ...The inclusion of the sunset provision has, however, done little to appease the concerns of civil liberties groups.
  • Network operators now have the clear authority to invite law enforcement to assist in catching trespassers operating within the network without authorization. Providers complying with a government order in good faith are immune from liability to third parties.
  • In the Department of Justice, the existing Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (?CCIPS?) focuses exclusively on issues raised by computer and intellectual property crime. A recent CCIPS prosecution lead to the conviction of a Russian hacker who used information obtained from Internet Service Providers, e-commerce sites, and online banks in this country to obtain personal financial information to in turn extort victims and obtain cash from stolen credit cards. Another prosecution yielded a guilty plea from a financial corporation employee who, without authorization, accessed customer financial account information and in turn distributed the information for financial benefit.
Those are just highlights. Read the whole document for much more info and details.
 
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