http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0121-01.htm
Published on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 by the Inter Press Service
Bush Pushes Plan to Permit Internet Surveillance
by Haider Rizvi

NEW YORK - The Bush administration is pushing to ratify an international convention that civil libertarians say would pose serious threats to privacy rights at home and abroad.

After delaying for about two years, U.S. President George W. Bush recently asked the U.S. Senate to ratify the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention, a global agreement apparently created to help police worldwide cooperate to fight Internet crimes.

”It's the only international treaty to address the problems of computer-related crime and electronic evidence gathering,” Bush said in his November letter asking the Senate to confirm U.S. adherence to the treaty.

”It promises to be an effective tool in the global effort to combat computer-related crime,” added the president.

But independent legal experts and right activists on both sides of the Atlantic are skeptical about such claims.

”This is a bad treaty that not only threatens core liberties, but will obligate the United States to use extraordinary powers to do the dirty work of other nations,” says Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the oldest civil rights group in the country.

”We are opposed to this treaty,” says Cedric Laurent, a senior policy fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a public interest research group based in Washington, DC that specializes in issues of democracy and technology.

The treaty criminalizes acts such as hacking and the production, sale or distribution of hacking tools, and expands criminal liability for intellectual property violations that nations must have on their books as crimes.

So far, only four countries -- Albania, Estonia, Hungary and Croatia -- have ratified the treaty since it opened for signatures in 2001.

Thirty-two countries besides the United States have signed the convention; it must be ratified by five nations before it enters into force.

The agreement also makes it mandatory for each participating nation to grant new powers of search and seizure to its law enforcement authorities, including the power to force an Internet service provider (ISP) to preserve a customer's usage records and to monitor his or her online activities as they occur.

If approved by the Senate, experts say, U.S. police would be required to cooperate in ”mutual assistance requests” from police in other nations ”to the widest extent possible”.

”The Cyber-crime signatories include nations of recent and untested democratic vintage, such as Ukraine and Bulgaria,” says ACLU Legislative Counsel Marv Johnson.

”Do we really want professional American law enforcement personnel conducting surveillance on people who haven't broken any U.S. law in order to help enforce the 'law' of some Party apparatchik in China?” he added in a statement.

Right groups are also worried about the possible use of new surveillance devices like Carnivore, the ”Internet-tapping” system used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to intercept communications.

Unlike wiretaps, which are set up by a telephone company on behalf of authorities, Carnivore allows law enforcement agents direct access to entire ISP networks, far beyond the scope of powers those agents now have.

When the U.S. Congress passed the infamous Patriot Act to boost law-enforcement in response to the Sep. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, it authorized the use of Carnivore for collecting information on Internet addresses and traffic. But it stopped short of permitting the system to be used to eavesdrop on actual content.

”The Patriot Act has given more powers to the law enforcement agencies. That is right,” says Laurent in an interview. ”But the ratification of this convention would give even more powers to the authorities.”

”Unfortunately, the history of the FBI and other government agencies on respecting privacy is not good,” says Steinhardt in an interview, explaining that is why, ”Carnivore has been opposed by organizations from across the political spectrum''.

The ACLU and other critics of the treaty also argue that it provides too little protection for political activities. They point out that the text fails to define ”political offences”, a fault they call ”a huge omission”, since an act considered political in the United States might be a criminal matter in another country.

For example, the treaty section on real-time monitoring of Internet activity does not include an exemption to the mutual assistance requirement for ”political” offences, meaning, the experts say, the FBI could be asked to order an ISP like AOL to spy on a political dissenter in Ukraine or a union organizer in Latin America.

Steinhardt wonders why Bush decided to request ratification now. ”We are trying to understand why the U.S. government did not do anything two years ago,” he says. ”They had abandoned this (treaty). I think it's all related to 9/11. But it's a mystery to us.”

In his letter to the Senate, Bush wrote, ”the treaty would help deny 'safe havens' to criminals, including terrorists, who can cause damage to U.S. interests abroad using computer systems”.

another similar report
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,65305,00.html?tw=rss.TOP
Copyright © 2004 IPS-Inter Press Service

http://news.com.com/Security%20officials%20to%20spy%20on%20chat%20rooms/2100-7348_3-5466140.html
Security officials to spy on chat rooms

By Declan McCullagh
http://news.com.com/Security+officials+to+spy+on+chat+rooms/2100-7348_3-5466140.html

Story last modified Wed Nov 24 15:58:50 PST 2004

The CIA is quietly funding federal research into surveillance of Internet chat rooms as part of an effort to identify possible terrorists, newly released documents reveal.
In April 2003, the CIA agreed to fund a series of research projects that the documents indicate were intended to create "new capabilities to combat terrorism through advanced technology." One of those projects is research at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., devoted to automated monitoring and profiling of the behavior of chat-room users.

Listening in
The CIA has been working behind the scenes for a number of months to help develop technology for monitoring chat on the Internet. A real-world test starts with the New Year.

• November 2002: Invitation-only workshop convened by CIA and NSF on antiterrorism research.

• April 2003: CIA and NSF sign "memorandum of understanding" to fund technology research.

• June 2004: Deadline for submitting research proposals to NSF.

• July 2004: CIA and NSF review nearly 250 research proposals.

• January 2005: Scheduled start date of chat room monitoring project at Rensselaer Polytechnic.
Even though the money ostensibly comes from the National Science Foundation, CIA officials were involved in selecting recipients for the research grants, according to a contract between the two agencies obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and reviewed by CNET News.com.

NSF program director Leland Jameson said Wednesday the two-year agreement probably will not be renewed for the 2005 fiscal year. "Probably we won't be working with the CIA anymore at all," Jameson said. "I think that people have moved on to other things."

The NSF grant for chat-room surveillance was reported earlier this year, but without disclosure of the CIA's role in the project. The NSF-CIA memorandum of understanding says that while the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and the fight against terrorism presented U.S. spy agencies with surveillance challenges, existing spy "capabilities can be significantly enhanced with advanced technology."

EPIC director Marc Rotenberg, whose nonprofit group obtained the documents through the Freedom of Information Act, said the CIA's clandestine involvement was worrisome. "The intelligence community is changing the priorities of scientific research in the U.S.," Rotenberg said. "You have to be careful that the National Science Foundation doesn't become the National Spy Foundation."

"The proposed system could aid the intelligence community to discover hidden communities and communication patterns in chat rooms without human intervention."
--Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute research proposalA CIA representative would not answer questions, saying the agency's policy is never to talk about funding. The two Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers involved, Bulent Yener and Mukkai Krishnamoorthy, did not respond to interview requests.

Their proposal, also disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, received $157,673 from the CIA and NSF. It says: "We propose a system to be deployed in the background of any chat room as a silent listener for eavesdropping...The proposed system could aid the intelligence community to discover hidden communities and communication patterns in chat rooms without human intervention."

Yener and Krishnamoorthy, both associate professors of computer science, wrote that their research would involve writing a program for "silently listening" to an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel and "logging all the messages." One of the oldest and most popular methods

for chatting online, IRC attracts hundreds of thousands of users every day. A history written by IRC creator Jarkko Oikarinen said the concept grew out of chat technology for modem-based bulletin boards in the 1980s.

The Yener and Krishnamoorthy proposal says their research will begin Jan. 1, 2005 but does not say which IRC servers will be monitored.

By Declan McCullagh
http://news.com.com/Security+officials+to+spy+on+chat+rooms/2100-7348_3-5466140.html

Story last modified Wed Nov 24 15:58:50 PST 2004

The CIA is quietly funding federal research into surveillance of Internet chat rooms as part of an effort to identify possible terrorists, newly released documents reveal.
In April 2003, the CIA agreed to fund a series of research projects that the documents indicate were intended to create "new capabilities to combat terrorism through advanced technology." One of those projects is research at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., devoted to automated monitoring and profiling of the behavior of chat-room users.

Listening in
The CIA has been working behind the scenes for a number of months to help develop technology for monitoring chat on the Internet. A real-world test starts with the New Year.

• November 2002: Invitation-only workshop convened by CIA and NSF on antiterrorism research.

• April 2003: CIA and NSF sign "memorandum of understanding" to fund technology research.

• June 2004: Deadline for submitting research proposals to NSF.

• July 2004: CIA and NSF review nearly 250 research proposals.

• January 2005: Scheduled start date of chat room monitoring project at Rensselaer Polytechnic.
Even though the money ostensibly comes from the National Science Foundation, CIA officials were involved in selecting recipients for the research grants, according to a contract between the two agencies obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and reviewed by CNET News.com.

NSF program director Leland Jameson said Wednesday the two-year agreement probably will not be renewed for the 2005 fiscal year. "Probably we won't be working with the CIA anymore at all," Jameson said. "I think that people have moved on to other things."

The NSF grant for chat-room surveillance was reported earlier this year, but without disclosure of the CIA's role in the project. The NSF-CIA memorandum of understanding says that while the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and the fight against terrorism presented U.S. spy agencies with surveillance challenges, existing spy "capabilities can be significantly enhanced with advanced technology."

EPIC director Marc Rotenberg, whose nonprofit group obtained the documents through the Freedom of Information Act, said the CIA's clandestine involvement was worrisome. "The intelligence community is changing the priorities of scientific research in the U.S.," Rotenberg said. "You have to be careful that the National Science Foundation doesn't become the National Spy Foundation."

"The proposed system could aid the intelligence community to discover hidden communities and communication patterns in chat rooms without human intervention."
--Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute research proposalA CIA representative would not answer questions, saying the agency's policy is never to talk about funding. The two Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers involved, Bulent Yener and Mukkai Krishnamoorthy, did not respond to interview requests.

Their proposal, also disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, received $157,673 from the CIA and NSF. It says: "We propose a system to be deployed in the background of any chat room as a silent listener for eavesdropping...The proposed system could aid the intelligence community to discover hidden communities and communication patterns in chat rooms without human intervention."

Yener and Krishnamoorthy, both associate professors of computer science, wrote that their research would involve writing a program for "silently listening" to an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel and "logging all the messages." One of the oldest and most popular methods

for chatting online, IRC attracts hundreds of thousands of users every day. A history written by IRC creator Jarkko Oikarinen said the concept grew out of chat technology for modem-based bulletin boards in the 1980s.

The Yener and Krishnamoorthy proposal says their research will begin Jan. 1, 2005 but does not say which IRC servers will be monitored.

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1164267220084&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout
West Spy Agencies Use Amateur Eyes

IslamOnline.net & News Agencies

The group was behind latest reports that Bakri had been delivering nightly sermons via an Internet chat room from his exile in Lebanon.

LONDON — A UK-based shadowy network of amateur and retired spies who hunt down people though such hazy resources as online chartrooms is considered a reliable source by US and British intelligence agencies, with materials reportedly used in convicting Muslim "extremists".
"The CTC is working closely with Vigil and in particular its director and spokesman who has made officers aware of chat room material," the CTC spokesman told Reuters.

She stressed that Vigil group was treated seriously in the newly-created branch of the metropolitan police, assigned to counter-terrorist investigations in the UK and abroad.

Vigil was set up last year by Dominic Whiteman and two other businessmen reportedly to act as an interface between retired spies and the police and security services.

"This evidence was just getting lost in the system," said Whiteman, arguing that his 30 retired spies, senior military personnel, anti-terrorism specialists and banking experts were party to good, raw intelligence.

Sixty percent of Vigil's work involves gaining information via the Internet, by infiltrating online chat rooms.

They also depend on contacts ranging from a maid in Bangkok and a Mumbai train driver to senior intelligence figures.

"We just recruited a guy who's a senior figure in police training in Iraq," Whiteman said.

It's not only the CTC that cooperates with the group but so do the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York Intelligence Unit, according to Reuters.

"It's quite a faceless relationship. You can never really tell if some of the evidence you hand over is behind some of the arrests that have been security service-inspired," Whiteman said.

Convictions

Yet, the shadowy network takes pride in convicting, or at least contributing, Muslim extremists.

Whiteman boasts that Vigil members are credited with helping bring about the conviction of Egyptian-born Abu Hamza al-Masri.

Abu Hamza, jailed in London in February, is accused of inciting racial hatred and soliciting murder, and is wanted in the United States on terrorism charges.

One Vigil member, Glen Jenvey, admits he tricked Abu Hamza into handing over videos and audio tapes which were used by US authorities to issue an arrest warrant for him.

Jenvey describes himself as an amateur spy "like Miss Marple", the elderly sleuth created by author Agatha Christie.

His latest undercover work has involved Omar Bakri Mohammed, who was banned from Britain in August, as part of what he calls a crackdown on "preachers of hate".

Jenvey's revelation that Bakri had been delivering nightly sermons via an Internet chat room from his exile in Lebanon was reported prominently in Britain's media this week.

"What he wasn't aware of is we recorded everything for the last six months and then handed it over to the anti-terrorist squad and MI5 (the UK domestic spy agency)," he told Reuters.

One of the chat room's regular participants has since been convicted of inciting racist hatred.

Anjem Choudary, a close friend of Bakri, denied there was anything sinister about the sermons and said the talks in "no way encourage or incite" British Muslims.

Muslim Scrutiny

The group says it also helped to uncover attack tactics against the occupation troops in Iraq and is now working to provide intelligence from North Korea.

But currently it is particularly putting the sizable British Muslim minority under its microscope.

Vigil has turned its sights on Muslim groups such as Tablighi Jamaat, a charity organization that is planning to build Britain's largest mosque in east London.

The organization has repeatedly denied any links to terrorist attacks despite media reports linking it to terrorism investigations.

"We wanted to find out more," Whiteman said, adding that his group had already infiltrated the organization.

"There's nothing to suggest that they will be banned, but there are definitely a few rotten apples that need to be looked at."

British Muslims, estimated at nearly 1.8 million, have been in the eye of storm since last year's 7/7 attacks London attacks which killed 56 people, including the four British Muslim bombers.

The Guardian revealed on October 16 that the Education Ministry has asked lecturers and university staff across Britain to spy on Muslim students on suspicious involvement in "extremist" activities.

The latest report by the UK government's privacy watchdog has also showed that Britain is becoming a "Big Brother" society where the lives of millions are monitored and tracked from cradle to grave.

There are 4.2 million CCTV cameras spreading across Britain with each Briton being captured about 300 times a day on camera.

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/22878/1/
Army invades Nablus, attacks local TV station and took prisoners four residents
Ghassan Bannoura – IMEMC & Agencies - Saturday, 25 November 2006, 11:17

Israeli forces broke into a local TV station and a number houses in the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday mourning, Palestinian sources reproted.

Eyewitnesses said that troops broke into several houses, searched and ransacked them and took prisoner four residents leeding them to an unknown location.

Troops attacked several neighborhoods in Nablus, forced families out of their homes then interrogated them before searching and ransacking their houses.

Also, soldiers broke into Gama local TV station located in the city center, checked the identification cards of the employees and searched the offices before leaving the station.

During the military offensive into the city, troops took prisoner four residents; the four were identified as Firas Al Batia, 19, Tamer Kilunah, Sa'ed Al Khaskhash, 18, and Noah Al Khafsh, 24, all were taken to unknown locations.

Moreover, soldiers fired live rounds and sound bombs at residents near Al Nabi Mousa mosque in the town of Balata, near Nablus.

In a related incident, several army jeeps clashed with local youth near Askar refugee campduring a Friday night invasion; two youth were injured.

Mousa Nawaja', 15, was critically woounded and moved to a Rammallah hospital for treatment, while Murad Abu Ghadab, 16 sustained moderate injuries and was moved to a hospital in Nablus, medical sources reported.

http://www.imemc.org/content/view/22876/1/
One killed two injured near Al Mintar ( Karen A) border crossing east of Gaza
Ghassan Bannoura – IMEMC & Agencies - Saturday, 25 November 2006, 10:30

Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians and injured another two on Saturday at dawn, Palestinian medical sources reproted.

Dr. Muawieh Hasaneen, head of the emergency and ambulances department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said the Israeli army have notified that Palestinian border crossing control that Israeli troops stationed at Al-Mintar ( Karen A) border crossing east of Gaza opened fire at the a group of residents near the border crossing located on the buffer zone between the green line and the Gaza strip.

Palestinian ambulances rushed to the area as soon as they gut the news, upon arrival they found one residents dead and another two injured, no names have been issued tell the time of this reported.

Dr. Hasaneen said medics found a body of a young man killed in the fields, however, they could not identify him. They said he was wearing regular clothes usually used by farmers and workers.

In the meantime Israeli forces continued its offensive in Al Saghaf area east of the Gaza strip, local residents said that the tanks stormed the area and opened fire at the residents and their homes, damage reported but no injuries.

Also on Saturday Israeli army beefed up its forces into Biet Lahia and the northeren parts of the Gaza strip, tanks advance slowly towards the town and frequently open fire at residents houses and at anything that moves, eyewitnesses reported.

With toady's morning killings, the death toll in the Gaza strip due to the Israeli offensive since the beginning of the week stands now at 29 mostly civilians including six children and two women.