Napolitano: Internet Monitoring Needed to Fight Homegrown Terrorism

The ECHELON system that operates in cooperation between US, Canada, UK and Australia (and probably more) intercepts over 3-BILLION electronic messages everyday (Phone, Email, Text, Fax, Video etc) - they've been doing this for a long time - I don't understand what is new about this... Perhaps someone could enlighten me? - Because at the mo' all I see in this is a fear-campaign / warning / shock-test.

reply to post by ghostsoldier


This is not about Echelon.... This is about that progressive of napolitano, and her ilk wanting to restrict the internet more...

Originally posted by Esrom Escutcheon Esquire
Ha ha.. You know, things like this make me laugh... I know im not American but,

How about Internet monitering to know what our Goverments are up too?

- To protect our human rights.

- To know the truth.

etc..

Another excuse to pass more legislative abuse in the name of Terrorism... And if it works well in one country, it'll spread quicker than Swine Flu.

the internet has been the single biggest obstacle for the worlds most powerful government, it gives us as citizens alternative media, rather than the zionist controlled MSM and as a result if you look hard enough you can find the truth......and the truth is not what they want us to know!

reply to post by Y2Zgt

That is why we cry Deny ignorance, show me proof or it never happened.
If a person’s life is ruined by a rumor I say it wasn’t much of a life anyway.
This whole pre emptive strike carp is reminding me of the movie “Minority Report”.
Only they cannot see into the future.

Homeland defense has always been lookin for a way to regulate the net since they were created post-911 the government has been trying to do this once they realized that people were ignoring the msm.I can garantee that any internet monitoring or regulation bill will have lot of support from all the mainstream media companies this has more to do with stamping out descent in the country then it does national security.

Wow OP... a tad bit overdone imo. I don't think it sounds so bad as to warrant that kind of talk. Some of the anti Obama stuff is just off the walk crazy, don't get it.

While I don't want to see the internet controlled really in any way, I'd like to see something more concrete as far as what they have planned. I'm sure it will be oozing with evil

[edit on 20-6-2010 by ghaleon12]

reply to post by rival


Certainly, though a bit of clarification of wording might be in order. A better wording might be civil rights. Civil rights are granted to citizens by their government and can therefore be taken away by the government, whereas inalienable rights belong to each of us on the grounds that we are sentient beings, and can never be taken away; only given away. By and large, civil rights tend to mimic inalienable rights simply to appease the masses. So when your government tells you they are taking your civil liberties (usually to protect you from some faceless threat) they are really only tricking you into giving up your inalienable rights.

Make sense?

*eta* This is why I specifically made a distinction between the two.

[edit on 20-6-2010 by blood0fheroes]

reply to post by ElectricUniverse

Thanks for clearing that up...

I for one advocate 2 internets.

1 official
1 unofficial

That is all I wish to say here about that.

And people thought the Bush Administration was bad. This is absolutely absurd, and the Obama administration has made clear they are the enemy of free press and freedom of speech. Stuff like this makes the patriot act look like child's play. Control the internet control America.

Are we starting to mirror China or what?

Gah. Can't you just imagine all of the illegitimate claims they would make? Shutting down sites and arresting people...This is just ridiculous. Good to know our own government doesn't push for rights like we do.

Perhaps someone can explain this to me. What exactly is she suggesting? They already monitor the internet. Is she saying the government should be allowed to read individual emails, or monitor video calls, VOIP, etc?

Originally posted by blood0fheroes
inalienable rights belong to each of us on the grounds that we are sentient beings, and can never be taken away; only given away.

Actually, they can't be given away, either:

Main Entry: in·alien·able
: incapable of being alienated, surrendered, or transferred [inalienable rights]

Source

Originally posted by Vitchilo
This is getting sicker by the minute.

Fighting homegrown terrorism by monitoring Internet communications is a civil liberties trade-off the U.S. government must make to beef up national security, the nation's homeland security chief said Friday.

As terrorists increasingly recruit U.S. citizens, the government needs to constantly balance Americans' civil rights and privacy with the need to keep people safe, said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

But finding that balance has become more complex as homegrown terrorists have used the Internet to reach out to extremists abroad for inspiration and training. Those contacts have spurred a recent rash of U.S.-based terror plots and incidents.

"The First Amendment protects radical opinions, but we need the legal tools to do things like monitor the recruitment of terrorists via the Internet," Napolitano told a gathering of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy.

WHAT ABOUT YOU GO SCREW YOURSELF YOU TREASONOUS PUKE?

Back in the day, your ugly head would have a rope around it hanging from a tree branch.

You sick witch, you are lucky we are fighting your tyranny the legal way...for now. But one of these days, your actions will just piss off the wrong person and the whole armed resistance will begin. You better pray it doesn't happen or you'll end up like the french royalty after the french revolution.

We know you hate internet because it exposes the crimes you committed at Waco and the cover-up you participated in.

[edit on 19-6-2010 by Vitchilo]

I agree with you 100%!!

Except what did Nappy have to do with Waco?

Just asking....

73's
Tom

reply to post by Ian McLean


Precisely the point I was trying to make! Thank you for helping clarify that.

While they cannot truly be separated from us -ever- they can be conceded if we are made to *believe* they have been taken. Psychosomatic is the correct term, I believe. Could be mistaken.

Back on topic, though.

A couple posts above this is asked:

What exactly is she suggesting? They already monitor the internet...

I see this tactic as nothing but a measure for control over the masses who do not watch the actions of the government very closely. Put simply, they want you to be afraid because fear is easy to control.

As an analogy, let me ask this rhetorical question: If I were pointing a gun at your head would you feel fear if you were not aware of what I was doing?

In this same manner, they want the general public to be aware of this. In this way, the people will be less likely to voice any dissent, on any front.

Techie-types out there..

What would it take to create an underground internet, as a means of getting around government monitoring?

Is it even possible?

Reply to Vitchilo

WHAT ABOUT YOU GO SCREW YOURSELF YOU TREASONOUS PUKE?

Vitchilo, I heve never seen you so upset! Good for you!

reply to post by ghostsoldier


The difference is that Echelon is supposedly a monitoring systm, it does not stop you from publishing something online. This individual is trying to actively restrict what can be put online. It's like the idea of a two tier internet.

Imagine a place where you just couldn't create something new anymore unless you had a lot of money. You couldn't start up Google from your basement because the running costs would quickly get out of hand. Not only that but people would probably never see your page because it would exist on the second tier of the internet. The big boys would pay a fortune for their websites to get the best traffic speeds and search results.

The internet at the moment is free, if i discover some secret government documents talking about martial law then i can put them online, anonymously. If this woman gets her way then i couldn't do it and that is what all of this is about.

The internet is very dangerous to those who are supposedly upstanding people/organisations but are actually committing crimes. It's making it increasingly difficult for them to operate. Just check out all of the videos about police officers assaulting people and you will understand.

Information truly is power, information truly can bring freedom, but only if the information can be shared among the general populous.

As long as this newly found authourity isn't used to take out peaceful and peace promoting sites then I say I'm all for it.

Now, what we must do in order to not become a target of The United States Dept, Of Homeland Security is that we absolutely cannot and must not be a thorn in Govt's side as that will be so counterproductive to our goal.

The utter annhialation of TPTB but do it intelligently and maturely. We cannot under any circumstance be seen as advocating or condoning acts of terrorism and violence and it is up to the fine staff here to report all potential threats to The United States Dept Of Homeland Security.

Knowing DHS this site will be heavily monitored but not be targeted as long as we remain peaceful and continue to be proactive in all of our postings and activity.

This enhancement is not directed at killing or attacking this site here but to troll and infiltrate those more prevelant and persistent threats the nation is currently facing now.

This is not apart of The FEMA Colour coding system.

[edit on 20-6-2010 by TheImmaculateD1]

Originally posted by TheImmaculateD1
As long as this newly found authourity isn't used to take out peaceful and peace promoting sites then I say I'm all for it.

Now, what we must do in order to not become a target of The United States Dept, Of Homeland Security is that we absolutely cannot and must not be a thorn in Govt's side as that will be so counterproductive to our goal.

Do you read history? Giving government the powers to censor information will always lead to them censoring information they just don't like. If you have the ability to censor what i say and i have evidence to prove you've done something really bad then you would quickly stop me spreading that information.

ATS is already a target because it's a website that can promote some unpopular viewpoints, even anti government sentiment. This is free speech and the fact you're so happy to betray that just because you're a little scared of a few terrorists is sad.

Originally posted by TheImmaculateD1
The utter annhialation of TPTB but do it intelligently and maturely. We cannot under any circumstance be seen as advocating or condoning acts of terrorism and violence and it is up to the fine staff here to report all potential threats to The United States Dept Of Homeland Security.

If anyone posted an actual threat on ATS it would be gone very quickly and reported i have no doubt about that. However this reporting should be down to individual site admins and not the government intervention to actively censor the net. If you actually wanted TPTB destroyed you would understand the importance of having a free and uncontrolled internet. A place where ideas are made to be equally available instead of large, hyper controlled platforms pumping out filtered information (aka most tv news netowrks).

Originally posted by TheImmaculateD1
Knowing DHS this site will be heavily monitored but not be targeted as long as we remain peaceful and continue to be proactive in all of our postings and activity.

Oh how ignorant this is. The government may start to only take down websites that terrorists use, then they'll move on to places like this. People post all sorts of stuff the government would rather they didn't and what about wikileaks? Wikileaks has exposed some truly terrible things regarding both governments and corporations. That website would be gone overnight if we gave government control. Although it would be really difficult shutting wikileaks down but blocking it by using a chinese style firewall would be easy enough.

Of course anyone with a brain can get around such a firewall with ease.

Originally posted by TheImmaculateD1
This enhancement is not directed at killing or attacking this site here but to troll and infiltrate those more prevelant and persistent threats the nation is currently facing now.

This is not apart of The FEMA Colour coding system.

[edit on 20-6-2010 by TheImmaculateD1]

YAY! Lets all give up freedom so we can be safe and sound.

People like you make me really sad, scared little men/women who fear terrorists so much you abandon free speech and beg the government for protection.

Yes, one can feel the push for this. This AM on FOX, a long hair computer hippie spent some minutes teaching us how to 'protect your awnline reputation'. (The media have taken to making sure that 'on' is pronounced 'awn', and anyone who's in knows this). The message was pretty clear: a lot of job creation so people can spy on each other and report to the 'authorities'. They are attempting to make your internet experience tantamount to your credit score, basically. It's sick, but the progression of this disease can be stopped.

I wish I had taken this fellows name. His schtick implies heavy registration, and monitoring.

As usual, FOX made it seem like it was the same thing as the Sun rising.

Why don't they cover the corexit disaster? I cannot believe that they are still shoving actor's daily twaddle etc at us, at this hour.

I would agree with some of the posters that this is nothing new. There have been forms of government level surveillance inline for decades now(echelon, carnivore, warrantless NAP taps). Case in point, a recent local murder resulted in the cops having full chat transcripts of both the victim and the suspect. This illustrates that even at a small town level the information required is there, if needed. Plus with the convenience of info rich sites like facebook/twitter you can almost compile a real time profile of citizens with little effort, yet alone using nefarious means like taps.

One could argue that a 2 tier Internet is well underway with the advent of Internet 2 but that is primarily directed by academia and not for commercial purposes. BBS style systems are still utilizing PSTN so that's a bust. I guess one could always resort to amateur/ham radio but that would be left for purists.

brill