Oppose the New Ashcroft Internet Snooping Request

Not satisfied with the new snooping powers granted by the PATRIOT Act, the Department of Justice is now asking the Federal Communications Commission to allow law enforcement the power to regulate the design of Internet communications services to make them easy to wiretap.

If implemented, the new request by Attorney General John Ashcroft would dramatically increase the government?s surveillance powers and set a precedent for opening the entire Internet to law enforcement. By forcing technology companies to build ?backdoors? in their systems for wiretapping, the Ashcroft plan would also create weaknesses that hackers and thieves could use to invade your privacy and steal personal information like credit card numbers.

The government already has more than enough power to spy on individuals suspected of wrongdoing. This measure is the equivalent of requiring all new homes be built with a peephole for law enforcement agents to look through.