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Thai Minister: Web Filtering Plan “Doesn’t Work”

Jared Moya — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:20:40 +0000

Thongchai Sangsiri, charged with overseeing Thailand's Web filtering regime, tells an audience that the plan has "become a burden on ISPs" as the length of the Blacklist grows, and that he'd rather see filtering left up to parents and teachers at the local level. Critics like the Freedom Against Censorship Thailand note the irony of its own site having been blocked for more than six months now even though it doesn't host any "illegal or even uncivil content."

With the US govt mulling a Web filtering regime of its own with the Combating Online Infringement & Counterfeits Act (COICA) it's worth noting that in Thailand, where a similar plan has already been put in place, the top govt official in charge has admitted it "doesn't work." Thongchai Sangsiri, director of computer forensics within Thailand's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT), and charged with overseeing the Web filtering regime, told a an audience at a recent gathering at the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity cybersecurity forum that blacklists are too lengthy and have proved quite difficult for ISPs to properly handle. He said that Web filtering was a job best left up to parents. "We would like [to] leave parents and teachers to decide what to filter … because [the current system] is too much to handle," said Sangsiri. "The blacklists grow with many, many websites to become a burden on ISPs. Blacklisting doesn't work." Freedom Against Censorship Thailand, a Thailand-based group opposed the Web filter, submitted a letter recently to the country's Prime Minister which also criticized the ineffectiveness of the filter, pointing out the irony that's its site has been blocked for more than 6 months now. It reads:

Our website Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) has been blocked since May 9, more than six months. We host no illegal or even uncivil content. It is ironic that an anti-censorship website should itself be censored by government. What does a citizen do to get their website unblocked? I have been in contact with your ICT minister, your deputy prime minister will not return my calls and the military authorities at your CRES and CAPO are simply unreachable by the ordinary citizen.

In the US the COICA would try mandate similar blacklisting efforts by forcing ISPs to “prevent the importation into the United States of goods and services offered by an Internet site dedicated to infringing activities.” The Bill would give courts the power to order ISPs to prevent access to infringing websites by US citizens if the site is found to illegally offer copyrighted material. "Senator Leahy is leading the government into the swamp of trying to decide which websites should be blacklisted and which ones shouldn't, and they're going to discover that the line between copyright infringement and free political speech can be awfully murky," notes the EFF, one of the COICA's most vocal critics. Sangrisi added that he thought the whole Web filtering plan was simply a way to make the majority of the public think the govt was actually doing something about perceived problems on the Internet. "The majority of the public will think the government is doing something; for public image it is good," he said. Precisely. With the COICA US copyright holders like the RIAA or MPAA will think they've blocked access to foreign streaming and file-sharing sites when all they'll have managed to do is force people to reroute their traffic via proxies, VPNs, etc.. A coalition of businesses has been trying to play up the supposed positive benefits of the COICA like the protection of American consumers and jobs, but both are unlikely to happen as a result of the Bill's passage. Even if all of the illicit file-sharing sites in the world were eliminated this very moment, all we would see in the US is a shifting of revenue from other sectors of the US economy where file-sharers currently spend the money that would have otherwise been spent on accessing copyrighted material. There is no magic pot of revenue to be tapped. The Thai blacklist should also serve as a cautionary tale for Australia which has been mulling a Web filtering plan of its own for some time now. Australian Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy has argued the plan is essential to protect “all that is good about the Internet,” but critics like the country's Liberal-National Coalition have countered that the "best internet filter a child can have is a parent that is engaged in what their children do and see on the internet." The COICA currently under consideration in the US Senate is obviously slightly different from either of the aforementioned Web filtering schemes, but its inevitable failure will be the same nonetheless. All Internet users have to do is encrypt their traffic or route via Tor or proxies to bypass any filtering regime. If the Chinese people have been able to defeat that country's Great Firewall of China then why do the COICA's sponsors expect a far more modest US proposal to any more successful? Our National Security Agency has already "yelled" at France for passing the “Creation and Internet Law" which it says will only encourage Internet users to arm themselves with same encryption tools used by criminal networks, making their job of detecting threats and illegal activity that much harder. The COICA is sure to encourage the same practice, especially VPN services that have the dual benefit of file-sharing anonymity. Stay tuned. jared@zeropaid.com

NSA “Yelled” at France Over “Three-Strikes” Legislation

Jared Moya — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:58:48 +0000

US intelligence agencies complain the country's "Creation and Internet Law" - Hadopi - will only encourage Internet users to arm themselves with same encryption tools used by criminal networks, making their job of detecting threats and illegal activity that much harder.

With French ISPs already having sent out the first emails warning customers they are suspected of having download copyrighted material illegally, it's interesting to note that US intelligence agencies have apparently "yelled" at their French counterparts for having allowed the legislation responsible for it to go through, and for how it will make their job of gathering data and detecting threats that much harder. The warning letters are part of the country’s “Creation and Internet” law, the controversial “three-strikes” measure to fight P2P in that country that was first proposed back in June of 2008. It was formally passed last September, but not after first before being ruled unconstitutional over the fact that an agency (HADOPI), and not a judge, was allowed to disconnect people from the Internet. US intelligence agencies are concerned that it will only encourage file-sharers and others to arm themselves with the same encryption tools used by criminal networks, making their job of detecting threats and illegal activity that much harder as the use of such tools goes mainstream. During a recent cryptography symposium in France they made their concerns known to their French counterparts, taking the time to "yell" at their French counterparts about Hadopi during a coffee break and make it clear that they are not happy. They think it's wrong to pass legislation to fight the simple, though illegal, exchange of movies and music because it means file-sharers will simply equip themselves with strong encryption tools to avoid detection, and make both the copyright holders and the govt losers in the end. It's why they reportedly encouraged former president George W. Bush to abandon similar "three-strikes" legislation in the US, and why British intelligence services had told their own govt its concerns with the Digital Economy Act's plans for monitoring and disconnecting suspected file-sharers. None of this seems to matter to copyright holders who seem to believe that "three-strikes" will actually work and turn people into loyal customers. File-sharing has never been a 1:1, lost sale to download, ratio and is more likely 1:20 or more. All it's likely to do is cause people to switch to the use of a variety of encryption tools, darknets, VPNs, Usenet, etc.. It's to bad the NSA and Mi5 seem to be the the only ones with true "intelligence" in govt these days. Stay tuned jared@zeropaid.com

The Docs AT&T and the NSA Don’t Want You to See

Chris — Mon, 22 May 2006 19:33:59 +0000

The whistle-blower in the AT&T domestic spying case submitted three documents as evidence to the court. Both AT&T and the NSA have tried to prevent these from going public, but here they are.

Former AT&T technician Mark Klein is the key witness in the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s class-action lawsuit against the telecommunications company, which alleges that AT&T cooperated in an illegal National Security Agency domestic surveillance program.

In a public statement Klein issued last month, he described the NSA’s visit to an AT&T office. In an older, less-public statement recently acquired by Wired News, Klein goes into additional details of his discovery of an alleged surveillance operation in an AT&T building in San Francisco.

Klein supports his claim by attaching excerpts of three internal company documents: a Dec. 10, 2002, manual titled “Study Group 3, LGX/Splitter Wiring, San Francisco,” a Jan. 13, 2003, document titled “SIMS, Splitter Cut-In and Test Procedure” and a second “Cut-In and Test Procedure” dated Jan. 24, 2003.

NSA has massive database of Americans’ phone calls

Chris — Thu, 11 May 2006 08:53:38 +0000

The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.

The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren’t suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.

“It’s the largest database ever assembled in the world,” said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA’s activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency’s goal is “to create a database of every call ever made” within the nation’s borders, this person added.

Now more than ever, DONATE TO THE EFF!!!

EFF: AT&T forwards all Internet traffic into NSA

Chris — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 18:34:19 +0000

“The evidence that we are filing supports our claim that AT&T is diverting Internet traffic into the hands of the NSA wholesale, in violation of federal wiretapping laws and the Fourth Amendment,” said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. “More than just threatening individuals’ privacy, AT&T’s apparent choice to give the government secret, direct access to millions of ordinary Americans’ Internet communications is a threat to the Constitution itself. We are asking the Court to put a stop to it now.”

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on Wednesday filed the legal briefs and evidence supporting its motion for a preliminary injunction in its class-action lawsuit against AT&T. After asking EFF to hold back the documents so that it could review them, the Department of Justice consented to EFF’s filing them under seal — a well-established procedure that prohibits public access and permits only the judge and the litigants to see the evidence. While not a party to the case, the government was concerned that even this procedure would not provide sufficient security and has represented to the Court that it is “presently considering whether and, if so, how it will participate in this case.”

EFF’s evidence regarding AT&T’s dragnet surveillance of its networks includes a declaration by Mark Klein, a retired AT&T telecommunications technician, and several internal AT&T documents. This evidence was bolstered and explained by the expert opinion of J. Scott Marcus, who served as Senior Technical Advisor for Internet Technology to the Federal Communications Commission from July 2001 until July 2005.

The internal AT&T documents and portions of the supporting declarations have been submitted to the Court under a tentative seal, a procedure that allows AT&T five court days to explain to the Court why the information should be kept from the public.

“The public deserves to know about AT&T’s illegal program,” said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. “In an abundance of caution, we are providing AT&T with an opportunity to explain itself before this material goes on the public docket, but we believe that justice will ultimately require full disclosure.”

The NSA program came to light in December, when the New York Times reported that the President had authorized the agency to intercept telephone and Internet communications inside the United States without the authorization of any court. Over the ensuing weeks, it became clear that the NSA program has been intercepting and analyzing millions of Americans’ communications, with the help of the country’s largest phone and Internet companies, including AT&T.

“Mark Klein is a true American hero,” said EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl. “He has bravely come forward with information critical for proving AT&T’s involvement with the government’s invasive surveillance program.”

In the lawsuit, EFF is representing the class of all AT&T residential customers nationwide. Working with EFF in the lawsuit are the law firms Traber & Voorhees, Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP and the Law Office of Richard R. Wiebe.

For the notice of motion for preliminary injunction:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/NotMot.pdf

For the motion to lodge under temporary seal:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/MotionReSealing.pdf

For more on EFF’s suit:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/