FBI Pushes for Surveillance Backdoors in Web 2.0 Tools

The FBI pushed for more built-in backdoors for online communication, but beat a hasty retreat from its earlier proposal to require providers of encrypted communications services to include a backdoor for law enforcement wiretaps.

FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni told Congress that new ways of communicating online could cause problems for law enforcement officials, but categorically stated that the bureau is no longer pushing to force companies like RIM, which offers encrypted e-mail for business and government customers, to engineer holes in their systems so the FBI can see the plaintext of a communication upon court order.

“Addressing the Going Dark problem does not require fundamental changes in encryption technology,” Caproni said in her written testimony (.pdf). “We understand that there are situations in which encryption will require law enforcement to develop individualized solutions.”

(“Going Dark” is the FBI’s codename for its multimillion-dollar project to extend its ability to wiretap communications as they happen.)

Details Here

first published week of:   03/07/2011

FBI using Carrier IQ info for “law enforcement purposes,” refuses to release records

An enterprising advocate for openness in government has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the FBI for all information the agency uses related to Carrier IQ, the company under fire for monitoring user activity on smartphones—and his request was flatly denied. The FBI claims data gathered by Carrier IQ software is exempt from disclosure laws because it is located in an investigative file that was “compiled for law enforcement purposes” and “could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.”

Michael Morisy, a journalist who founded an organization called MuckRock to ease the process of filing FOIA requests, wrote the FBI on Dec. 1 asking for “any manuals, documents or other written guidance used to access or analyze data gathered by programs developed or deployed by Carrier IQ…. In addition, I ask for expedited processing as this is a matter of immediate news interest: The existence of Carrier IQ’s software was recently disclosed and has immediate ramifications on constitutionally protected privacy rights.”

The FBI acknowledged receiving his request within a few days, and then issued a blanket denial, which cites a law exempting records from disclosure if releasing them could interfere with law enforcement proceedings. “In applying this exemption, I have determined that the records responsive to your request are law enforcement records; that there is a pending or prospective law enforcement proceeding relevant to these responsive records; and that release of the information contained in these responsive records could reasonably be expected to interfere with the enforcement proceedings,” an FBI records management official named David Hardy wrote to Morisy.

As we [ArsTechnica.com] noted in several stories in the past few weeks, Carrier IQ software is installed on more than 140 million phones, including various Androids and iPhones, although Apple says it is in the process of stripping it out. Carrier IQ, handset manufacturers and wireless service providers have said the software is used only for diagnostic information to improve service, and that it is not used to record keystrokes or read users’ messages. However, the companies have faced questions from Sen. Al Franken (D–MN) and class–action lawsuits. How much data Carrier IQ collects from smartphones and what happens to it have not been fully answered, and the FBI’s statement does not clarify whether it is investigating Carrier IQ to determine if its software violates any federal laws, or if it is using data from Carrier IQ for other investigations.

Details Here

first published week of:   12/12/2011

FCC forces “data roaming” on reluctant carriers

With Sprint and Comcast cheering (and Verizon booing), the Federal Communications Commission has issued rules requiring commercial mobile broadband providers to provide data roaming to other carriers “on commercially reasonable terms and conditions.”

The vote was three to two in favor of the decision.

“The evidence shows that mobile providers must be able to offer nationwide voice and data plans to have any chance of competing in today's market,” commented FCC Chair Julius Genachowski at today's Open Commission meeting. He continued:

“Yet the record evidence supplied by carriers in the market shows that roaming deals simply are not being widely offered on commercially reasonable terms. On the contrary, the record makes clear that some providers have refused to negotiate 3G or 4G data roaming agreements, have created long delays, or have taken other steps to impede competition.”

first published week of:   04/04/2011

Federal IT spending to increase 5 percent, analyst says

The Obama administration’s fiscal 2012 budget proposal calls for a five-year discretionary spending freeze and $33 billion in other cost-cutting targets and reductions.

If you are either selling IT to the federal government or work on a federal IT program, this might cause a moment of insecurity. But not to worry – too much – says Brian Haney, a senior vice president at market research firm Input Inc.

“The situation for us in the technology market is not as dire as it’s made out in the press,” he told an audience of IT resellers at a conference sponsored by Ingram Micro, the Santa Ana, Calif.-based IT distributor and supply-chain integrator.

Of the president’s $3.7 trillion 2012 budget proposal, Haney pointed out, only $1.2 trillion represents the discretionary budget, accounts from which IT funds are normally drawn.

And nearly two-thirds of that budget – or $720 billion – will be excluded from the freeze because it funds programs at the Defense and Homeland Security departments and other agencies considered essential to national security.

That leaves $398 billion in non-essential, non-security related spending – a third of the discretionary budget – that would be subjected to a freeze. “It’s important to keep that in perspective,” Haney told the reseller crowd.

Details Here

first published week of:   04/25/2011

Feds Call for Nationwide Ban on Texts, Phones While Driving

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) called Tuesday, Dec. 13, for a nationwide ban on nearly all use of personal electronic devices — including cellphones and smartphones — by drivers.

The board’s recommendation came in a review of a highway accident that occurred last year in Gray Summit, Mo., that killed two people and injured 38 others. A review determined the accident likely was caused by a distracted driver who sent several text messages in the moments before the pileup.

The NTSB’s recommended that all 50 states and the District of Columbia ban drivers’ “nonemergency use of portable electronic devices” except for uses that support the task of driving, such as GPS navigation. The board is also calling for the ban of drivers’ use of hands–free calling technology.

The NTSB also urged CTIA — The Wireless Association and the Consumer Electronics Association to “encourage the development of technology features that disable the functions of portable electronic devices within reach of the driver when a vehicle is in motion; these technology features should include the ability to permit emergency use of the device while the vehicle is in motion and have the capability of identifying occupant seating position so as not to interfere with use of the device by passengers.”

The board also wants states to heighten enforcement of existing laws that prohibit technology that contributes to distracted driving and to enact public awareness campaigns about the issue.

Details Here

first published week of:   12/12/2011

Feds get convinced that digital piracy will destroy the media biz. Meanwhile, Viacom so devastated by piracy that CEO gets $50 million raise

For years, the Motion Picture Association of America has been pushing legislation to ratchet up copyright enforcement. In 2008, the association helped push through the PRO–IP Act, which allowed the federal government to seize domain names used for copyright infringement and created a new federal copyright czar. This year, the MPAA is a leading force in the campaign for “rogue sites” legislation, which would give the federal government broad powers to target sites with minimal judicial oversight.

Last year, Viacom, whose Paramount subsidiary is an MPAA member, told the Wall Street Journal that "a new wave of digital piracy could threaten the US media business" if it lost its copyright infringement case against YouTube. Similarly, the MPAA has argued that “when profits are reduced, the studios have fewer dollars to invest in movies, and when there is less money to invest they make fewer movies and the diversity and variety of films we love become more limited.”

So we [Ars Technica] were interested in this CNN story on the 20 biggest CEO pay raises. The winner? Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman. He got a raise of $50.5 million in 2010. That represents an impressive 149 percent pay increase from his 2009 compensation of $34 million.

Details Here

first published week of:   11/07/2011

Volume 31

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