WASHINGTON — Law enforcement and counterterrorism officials, citing lapses in compliance with surveillance orders, are pushing to overhaul a federal law that requires phone and broadband carriers to ensure that their networks can be wiretapped, federal officials say.

The officials say tougher legislation is needed because some telecommunications companies in recent years have begun new services and made system upgrades that caused technical problems for surveillance. They want to increase legal incentives and penalties aimed at pushing carriers like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast to ensure that any network changes will not disrupt their ability to conduct wiretaps.

An Obama administration task force that includes officials from the Justice and Commerce Departments, the F.B.I. and other agencies recently began working on draft legislation to strengthen and expand the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act, a 1994 law that says telephone and broadband companies must design their services so that they can begin conducting surveillance of a target immediately after being presented with a court order.

There is not yet agreement over the details, according to officials familiar with the deliberations, but they said the administration intends to submit a package to Congress next year.

Read more http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/us/19wiretap.html?_r=1&hp
Video by Adamkokesh

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Naked Pictures or Groping? (this choice brought to you by your
ever-loving government)

Do you value your privacy? Do you have any? Where will you draw the
line? Pilot Michael Roberts drew the line at the Houston airport when
he refused to go through a body scanner and declined a pat down. While
a petty circumstance, this man was willing to put his job on the line
to preserve a modicum of privacy and dignity. Meanwhile, the national
government wants more power to make telecom companies be more
"surveillance compliant." Privacy rights are born in property rights
and when our government acts like it owns us rather than serves us, it
should come as no surprise that privacy is no longer respected as a
right. You can argue for privacy from principle, or the numerous
examples of horrendous consequences that history gives us of what can
happen when privacy is not respected, but either way, we have a moral
imperative to make the sacrifices to protect our rights and protect
ourselves from deadly consequences.

LewRockwell.com - Pilot to TSA: 'No Groping Me and No Naked Photos'
by Michael Roberts
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig11/rob...

Natural News - It's true: Airport body scanners could give you cancer by: David Gutierrez
http://www.naturalnews.com/030079_air...

Prison Planet.com - The Next Stage: Global Naked Body Scanners By Kurt Nimmo
http://www.prisonplanet.com/the-next-...

New York Times - U.S. Pushes to Ease Technical Obstacles to
Wiretapping By CHARLIE SAVAGE
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/us/...

Wall Street Journal - Privacy? We Got Over It. By L. GORDON CROVITZ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12196...