Congress may consider mandatory ISP snooping

CONGRESS MAY CONSIDER MANDATORY ISP SNOOPING
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh]
It didn't take long for the idea of forcing Internet providers to retain records of their users' activities to gain traction in the Congress. Last week, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales gave a speech saying that data retention by Internet service providers is an "issue that must be addressed." Child pornography investigations have been "hampered" because data may be routinely deleted, Gonzales warned. Now, in a demonstration of bipartisan unity, a member of the Congressional Internet Caucus is preparing to introduce an amendment -- perhaps during a House of Representatives floor vote this week -- that would make such data deletion illegal. Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette's (D) proposal says that any Internet service that "enables users to access content" must permanently retain records that would permit police to identify each user. The records could not be discarded until at least one year after the user's account was closed.
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* See the amendment:
http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fenergycommerce.house.gov%2F108%2FMarkups%2F04262006%2Fdegette_001_XML.PDF&siteId=3&oId=2100-1028-60...