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                Date: 2000-02-01
                 
                 
                FIDnet: Ueberwachung oeffentlicher US-Netze
                
                 
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      Gerade weil im Akronym [FIDnet] die Kardinalstugend der  
Treue anklingt, ist [wie beim schönen begriff "Sicherheit"]  
doppeltes Misstrauen angebracht. De facto handelt sichs  
beim dem Federal Intrusion Detection Network um ein ganz  
ordinäres Überwachungsgesetz, das den gesetzlich  
ermächtigten US-Behörden Zugriff auf alle Netze von  
RegierungsStellen und anderen öffentlichen Institutionen  
einräumen wird.  
 
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EPIC Calls for Withdrawal of "FIDNET" at Senate Hearing 
 
The Senate Judiciary Committee today reviewed the  
Administration's proposed National Plan for Information  
Systems Protection. Civil liberties organizations have  
criticized the proposal, and said that it will dramatically  
expand government surveillance of the nation's  
communications network. They have singled out the Federal  
Intrusion Detection Network , "FIDNet", as raising far- 
reaching threats to American citizens. 
 
Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy  
Information Center (EPIC), called the proposed FIDNet plan  
contrary to the "the spirit of the federal wiretap statute, the  
plain language of the federal Privacy Act, and the history of  
the Fourth Amendment." He said that, "the FIDNet proposal,  
as currently conceived, must simply be withdrawn. It is  
impermissible in the United States to give a federal agency  
such extensive surveillance authority." 
 
EPIC also released a government memo at the hearing,  
obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, which  
indicates that the US Department of Justice is aware that the  
FIDNet proposal may violate US law. Other records obtained  
by EPIC show that government will use credit card records  
and telephone toll records as part of its intrusions detection  
system. 
 
Rotenberg charged that the backers of the security plan were  
"trying to apply twentieth century notions of national defense  
to twenty-first century problems of communications security." 
 
Last year EPIC warned that a similar Critical Infrastructure  
Program posed to the civil liberties of Americans. The revised  
security plan discusses privacy issues in a number of  
places, but civil liberties organizations contend that the panel  
is long on rhetoric and short on safeguards. 
 
"The Plan imply lacks the legal protections and independent  
oversight that would be necessary to prevent abuse," said  
EPIC. 
 
Barry Steinhardt, Associate Director of the Americal Civil  
Liberties Union, added, "Based on their past record it is quite  
clear that if Federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI  
begin to monitor the use of Federal government websites and  
networks by ordinary people that they will seek ever greater  
surveillance powers and will abuse whatever power is given to  
them." 
 
Also testifying at the hearing were John Tritak, Director,  
Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office and Frank Cilluffo,  
Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Strategic and International  
Studies 
 
The Electronic Privacy information Center is a public interest  
research organization located in Washington, D.C.  
[http://www.epic.org] 
 
EPIC has also conducted a series of Freedom of Information  
Act lawsuits to determine the extent of government  
monitoring of American citizens. For more information, see  
the EPIC Open Government page  
[http://www.epic.org/open_gov] 
 
EPIC report "Critical Infrastructure Protection and the  
Endangerment of Civil Liberties" is available for sale at the  
EPIC Bookstore along with other publications on privacy,  
encryption, and free expression  
[http://www.epic.org/bookstore] 
 
Also, see the ACLU Cyber-Liberties webpage  
[http://www.aclu.org]  
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edited by  
published on: 2000-02-01 
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