The government has for many years sought the means, through tech giants like Google and Facebook, to wiretap communications with the use of in-built backdoors. According to the Washington Post, a Justice Department task force, prompted by FBI efforts, is preparing legislation that would pressure companies such as Facebook and Google to comply with law enforcement wiretaps. Via WaPo:There is currently no way to wiretap some of these communications methods easily, and companies effectively have been able to avoid complying with court orders. While the companies argue that they have no means to facilitate the wiretap, the government, in turn, has no desire to enter into what could be a drawn-out contempt proceeding. Under the draft proposal, a court could levy a series of escalating fines, starting at tens of thousands of dollars, on firms that fail to comply with wiretap orders, according to persons who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. A company that does not comply with an order within a certain period would face an automatic judicial inquiry, which could lead to fines. After 90 days, fines that remain unpaid would double daily. … The proposal, however, is likely to encounter resistance, said industry officials and privacy advocates.Continue Reading… … Read More
GOP creates Ted Cruz, now thinks he’s a jerk
Here’s Senator Ted Cruz, Ted Cruzing it up, taking practically sole credit for killing gun background checks and trashing all his colleagues:The New York Times charitably says that “Friday’s speech was not the first time Mr. Cruz may have acted counter to some of the Senate’s norms,” before bringing up Cruz’s decidedly McCarthyite take on Chuck Hagel.Cruz is at the FreedomWorks Texas Summit, and the news here is that he calls most of his colleagues “squishes” and gives a (quite self-aggrandizing) account of off-the-record Senate Republican caucus luncheons, which apparently involved a lot of people yelling at Cruz and Rand Paul and the other guy who also promised to filibuster the entire gun deal from start to finish. In this version of events, the three filibustering amigos were responsible for the failure of the entire proposal. As Dave Weigel points out, that’s not really how it happened. The bill failed — and was probably doomed to begin with — because a lot more than three senators opposed it, and the Cruz/Paul filibuster threat was worse politics for the party than allowing debate to proceed and then watching red-state Democrats cave. Which is what actually happened.Continue Reading… … Read More
‘Centralize the Swedish emergency call system’
Swedish emergency service operator SOS Alarm should be replaced by a state authority, according to a new proposal presented to Sweden’s defence minister on Monday. … Read More
Congress proposes adding $4.5 billion to historic highs spent on border security
By Christie Thompson, ProPublica Federal spending on border security is at an all-time high2014and it would get even higher under the Gang of Eight’s new plan. The Senate immigration proposal, released last week, would allocate $4.5 billion in the next five years to tighten control of U.S….
Colorado town considers requiring AK-47s and AR-15s in every home
A town in Colorado is looking into a proposal that would require that every home have at least one assault-style rifle, similar to the Bushmaster AR-15 used to slaughter 20 elementary school children in Connecticut last year. The Craig Daily Press reported this week that the Craig resident Craig…
Obama administration signals change from prison to treatment in drug war
White House Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske signaled that the Obama administration may be open to a long-overdue shift from law enforcement to addiction treatment in a release of a new policy proposal on the so-called “war on drugs.” “We’ve relied far too long on the criminal…
Verizon to draft $100 billion offer to buy its wireless unit from Vodafone
Verizon has reportedly hired banking and legal advisers to put together a $100 billion proposal to purchase the remaining 45 percent stake in the company from partner Vodafone. Verizon was considering a 50:50 cash and stock bid for the shares according to two people familiar with the matter as first… … Read More
