Bill Would Make ISPs Keep Data On Users

BILL WOULD MAKE ISPs KEEP DATA ON USERS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima]
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) is pushing a measure that echoes a long-sought Bush administration goal: to require all Internet service providers to keep records on their subscribers. The measure would give the attorney general broad discretion to write the rules on what information companies have to retain and for how long. The provision would require Internet service companies to provide at a minimum the Internet subscriber's name and address, which can be linked to an Internet protocol address -- an identification number associated with a particular computer at a given time. Law enforcement officials would have to obtain a subpoena to have access to the records and could not use the tool to track law-abiding citizens on the Internet. It is aimed at protecting children from predators, but privacy advocates say its privacy and civil-liberties implications are huge, and industry is concerned about the costs of compliance. News of the measure has spread around the blogosphere, as critics seek to mobilize opposition to the SAFETY Act.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR200702...
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