Posted by Phil Giraldi on 08/17/09 08:23 AM   [Newer: Making Torture Accountable...Or Not] [Older: Serious Problems In Pakistan]

Those of us who rely on the internet for alternative news and viewpoints should be concerned about some recent developments.  New legislation in Germany reported in the highly respected newspaper "Die Zeit" will require all internet users to be licensed with a backtracking feature that will enable the government to determine where any internet transmission originated.  The new regulations will apparently require all users to have a tamper proof internet ID and will be enforced by special police.  In Germany all telecommunications data, to include both internet and telephone, is already being retained by the government for six months under a law that has been in effect since 2008.  It is of particular interest to note what German politicians and officials have said in supporting the legislation.  One commented that it is necessary to stop the internet from becoming a "lawless chaos room."  Another described the internet as a "source of criminality, terrorism, and much similar filth."  Yet another said "What is illegal offline is also illegal online."

Governments in many European countries and also in the US already read and monitor internet traffic.  Some countries like China and Iran already control the servers for internet as well as the cell phone centers in their country and have not been shy about shutting down communications when threatened with what they perceive to be civil disorder.  In many public places in Europe internet services are frequently screened by software that blocks certain websites and the use of words or phrases that are considered objectionable.  This screening is also becoming common in hotels and other public places that offer internet services in the United States.  But what is really dangerous is the development of technologies that make it possible to monitor the internet combined with legislation that gives the authorities the ability to go after users who can then be charged with illegal behavior, such as is happening in Germany. 

Posted 08/17/09 08:43 AM designer eb Little Elm, TX

Thanks for posting this story. It's important to be aware of legislation like this in other countries as it often finds it's way to America. Can you provide a link to your resources? It'd be great to read more.

Posted 08/17/09 09:29 AM evanbanks Salisbury, MD

Got any links or specific names of legislation? I'd like to hear more on this.

Posted 08/17/09 10:22 AM hash3m Seattle, WA

The internet was a glorious testimony to the wonders of the free market. As with any market, its days of freedom will eventually be limited by men in suits calling themselves "government," who are so delusional as to think they have a legitimate right or authority to tell us what we can and can't do. You better learn some economics before it too becomes "objectionable."

Posted 08/17/09 10:53 AM Phil Giraldi Purcellville, VA

The original articles relating to this story are on the websites for Die Zeit "Regierung erwagt ruckverfolgbaren Internetausweis fur alle" and also RP Online CDU fordert eine Internet-Polizei". You will find them there, but they are in German. Don't know if there has been any other coverage and I haven't seen anything in English.

Posted 08/17/09 11:14 AM Glenn Cumming, GA

I seem to recall early in the 20th century, U.S. officials were enamored with the German political-economic system which evolved into National Socialism. Are we doomed to suffer again this love affair with Nazism?

Posted 08/17/09 11:37 AM NathanjBond Oviedo, FL

I almost find this more disturbing than anything.

Posted 08/17/09 11:47 AM fephisto Lafayette, IN

Protect yourself: learn about basic tor networking, proxy-ing, and basic cryptography. They're the cyber-equivalent of firearms.

Posted 08/17/09 12:19 PM Glenn Cumming, GA

Timely - http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig9/green-p2.1.1.html

Posted 08/17/09 1:17 PM RobPepe Pennsburg, PA

Almost time to put new batteries in the walkie-talkies....

Posted 08/17/09 1:29 PM Bobby1011 Redland City, Australia

We've got a government internet filter starting in Australia as well. I like Schiff, but don't listen to his advice to move here. The legislation here for controlling the internet has been bi-partisan. It was introduced by the Liberal party and continued under the Labour Party. The system is a total mess...it's attempts to discriminate between sites as diverse as childporn and dental surgeries have been utter failures. The software engineers contracted to implement the plan are speaking out publicly against it for a range of reasons including both errosion of civil rights and the damage that it will do to our IT infrastructure.

Posted 08/17/09 1:35 PM VictimOfFeds San Clemente, CA

@Glenn He talks about uninstalling McAfee and Norton. I did that long ago because I found the cure was worse than the disease and that they operate much the same way the government does...tell you they're going to solve your problems but in reality make them much worse.

Posted 08/17/09 2:52 PM justinb Oklahoma City, OK

I've seen them try this with other bills, and this 'cyber' czar is given a lot of power over the network as well (not censoring, but they can turn it off). If you've never heard of a proxy, or used one, I would HIGHLY recommend doing so. In short, you go to a computer that is out of the 'censorship zone' per se, and they retrieve the censored website for you, and send it to you. It's become extremely popular by Iranian protesters lately. Some are totally web based and very easy to use (for example: http://www.hidemyass.com/).

Posted 08/17/09 3:01 PM ac3raven glendale, KY

"In Germany all telecommunications data, to include both internet and telephone, is already being retained by the government for six months under a law that has been in effect since 2008." The law actually states that ISP's must retain the data, not government. And that investigators must have a warrant and the crime must be "serious" to gain access to the data. The Court found several parts of the original legislation unconstitutional, and so they made it much better than it was, but they kept the data retention part. Google actually had something to do with that legislation, because there was some debate as to whether or not an IP address was private information. Google argued that it wasn't (and I'd agree).

Posted 08/17/09 5:00 PM Razixx The Pas, Canada

Perhaps, the ip address isn't private, but I'd certainly argue that my Mac address and all the websites I visit are definately private and no one's business at all. I'd also bet where ip is recorded, so is your pc's unique mac address. This is what they would nail you with in a court case. Your ip can always change, but your mac won't.

Posted 08/17/09 9:07 PM Carol Riess St Louis, MO

Apparently regulating the internet was one of the things discussed at Bilderberg this year. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2009/may/19/bilderberg-skelton-gree ce

Posted 08/17/09 11:25 PM ac3raven glendale, KY

Every internet provider on the planet can access their customer's mac address any time they want or need to, especially cable internet providers. I do agree that since it's a unique identifier, and it's static, ISP's shouldn't be required or forced to give it away in the absence of a proper warrant. You want real privacy? Stop using Windows, and IE. Get a safer browser like firefox or camino, and get some plugins: BetterPrivacy - a firefox plugin that manages flash cookies AdBlock - firefox plugin to block ads Ghostery - identifies trackers like quantcast, or AddThis (C4L uses 2 trackers at least) NoScript - manage javascript allowance, block malicious scripts And then there is the ultimate privacy. A network called The Onion Router (tor)

Posted 08/17/09 11:32 PM hash3m Seattle, WA

@Razixx: "my Mac address and all the websites I visit are definately private and no one's business at all." Then you'd better put some effort into ensuring that they remain private. Use certain technologies, and refrain from others. But don't try to limit my freedom to look at, record, remember, use, and talk about what's made available to me.

Posted 08/19/09 4:41 PM justinb Oklahoma City, OK

ac3raven, there is software that allows you to spoof your MAC address. Also, there are some ethernet cards that let you manually change the MAC address if you so desire. In the end, they can always track you down if they really wanted to.