COPYCENSE

“The explosive idea of forcing Internet providers to record their customers’ online activities for future police access is gaining ground in state capitols and in Washington, D.C. Top Bush administration officials have endorsed the concept, and some members of the U.S. Congress have said federal legislation is needed to aid law enforcement investigations into child pornography. A bill is already pending in the Colorado State Senate.

“Mandatory data retention requirements worry privacy advocates because they permit police to obtain records of e-mail chatter, Web browsing or chat-room activity that normally would have been discarded after a few months. And some proposals would require providers to retain data that ordinarily never would have been kept at all. The European Parliament’s vote in December for a data retention requirement that seems to have attracted broader interest inside the United States.”

Declan McCullagh. ISP Snooping Gaining Support. News.com. April 14, 2006.

See also:

U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Legislative Affairs. Draft Legislation: Child Pornography and Obscenity Prevention Amendments of 2006. (.pdf) April 20, 2006.

Anne Broache. U.S. Attorney General Calls for ‘Reasonable’ Data Retention. News.com. April 20, 2006.

Center for Democracy & Technology. Digital Search & Seizure. (.pdf) Feb. 22, 2006.

Jo Best. Europe Passes Tough New Data Retention Laws. News.com. December 14, 2005.

Declan McCullagh. Your ISP As Net Watchdog. News.com. June 16, 2005.

State of Colorado. A Bill for An Act Concerning Child Exploitation Offenses, And Making An Appropriation In Connection Therewith. (.pdf)



U.S. Code Annotated. Stored Wire and Electronic Communications and Transactional Record Access (18 U.S.C.A. sec. 2703). (Requires Internet service providers to preserve any data “record” for 90 days.)

Updates:

Declan McCullagh. Congress May Consider Mandatory ISP Snooping. News.com. April 28, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.