[117965] in Cypherpunks
Justice Dept Report Calls For New Cyber-Stalking Laws
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Anonymous)
Thu Sep 16 19:10:49 1999
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 00:40:07 +0200 (CEST)
Message-Id: <199909162240.AAA14505@mail.replay.com>
From: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Reply-To: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
Justice Dept Report Calls For New Cyber-Stalking Laws
By David McGuire, Newsbytes
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A.,
16 Sep 1999, 1:24 PM CST
Federal and state government officials should
move quickly to pass laws against cyber-stalking, a
new Justice Department report contends.
The report, which will be unveiled by Vice President Al Gore later today
in San Diego, contains three major legislative proposals, Gore
spokesperson Chris Lehane told Newsbytes today.
It recommends that: state governments review their laws to ensure that
they provide protections against cyber-stalking, and where necessary
draft new legislation; the Federal government pass a law making it illegal
to transmit information intended to "harass or threaten" over the Internet;
and that the Federal government pass legislation making it easier to track
cyber-stalkers (the report suggests that such legislation be drafted in
such a way to protect US citizens' online privacy).
"As more and more Americans are going online, it is critical that they are
protected from online stalkers," Gore said in a statement.
The release of the Justice cyber-stalking report comes just as President
Clinton is expected to reverse his previously held views on the export
and availability of strong encryption technology.
While the administration is expected to relax its stance on restricting the
availability of encryption technology, Federal law enforcement
authorities still want to have a technological "backdoor" built into
encryption products, whereby they can access encrypted transmissions.
"As we enter the digital age....we need to balance both security and
privacy concerns," Lehane said.
Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com .
13:24 CST
Reposted 15:32 CST
