New Jersey Congressman Seeks To Bar NSA Backdoors In Encryption 200
Frosty P writes "Congressman Rush D. Holt, a New Jersey Democrat, has proposed legislation (summary, full text) that would prohibit the agency from installing 'back doors' into encryption, the electronic scrambling that protects e-mail, online transactions and other communications. Representative Holt, a physicist, said Friday that he believed the NSA was overreaching and could hurt American interests, including the reputations of American companies whose products the agency may have altered or influenced. 'We pay them to spy,' Mr. Holt said. 'But if in the process they degrade the security of the encryption we all use, it's a net national disservice.'"
Pointless posturing (Score:5, Insightful)
A law to stop the NSA? Yeah, that oughta do the trick. *rolls eyes*
Locks? (Score:5, Insightful)
100 points for effort (Score:5, Insightful)
but if you're worrying about the reputation of US companies, you're too late.
Re:Pointless posturing (Score:2, Insightful)
A law to stop the NSA? Yeah, that oughta do the trick. *rolls eyes*
Well, it is politics. And who knows, maybe he's just offering up another law the government will pass and then ignore, all the while telling us that it has restrained their efforts.
At this point I'd need independent verification of a weather report if it was supplied by our government.
Re:Pointless posturing (Score:2, Insightful)
Well all the good congressman and his peers need to do is de-fund the NSA and their activities. No Bucks, no retards spying on everybody but you see it's no secret that the intelligence committees in the House and Senate have members who create rules themselves and classify information, denying basic information to the rest of their congressional counterparts. [commondreams.org] Not only do you have the NSA spying on everybody, you have the committees keeping it a secret from the rest of congress! What a great and open system we have! What's more disgusting is that these assholes, the ones who defend the NSA the most fervently, receive lots of campaign contributions from guess who? companies with vested interests in keeping the system going because they provide services and technology to guess what the NSA. This is why the seniority system in DC is bad, very bad for our rights and our nation.
It's time to do three things in this country. 1) Introduce term limits for congress. Sorry, Feinbitch, McShame, you're time is up and it's clear you don't have the best interests in mind for our country. 2) Change campaign funding legislation and limit all contributions to $1000 from any company or private party. 3) We need to re-introduce Stocks (not the wall street kind) [wikipedia.org] in DC and start putting these assholes in them for a week or two, I'm sure it will be a boost to the local economy in terms of travel and vendors selling rotten tomatoes.
Re:100 points for effort (Score:5, Insightful)
Yesterday's news marks the very first day for what will become a very bad time for American closed source security products. It would almost have been better for them if Snowden had been able to leak the actually collaborating and subverted companies names rather than just the generalization "all major ones" - because as it stands now, big or small, they are all equally guilty and will suffer the democratic process their customers voting with their feet/wallets abandoning their backdoored closed source products. They all gave guarantee's of being secure before and the PR departments are working overtime to try and maintain the illusion, but it is a hopeless battle now... trust once lost is veery hard to recuperate.
but if you're worrying about the reputation of US companies, you're too late.
Especially when there is an army of politicians - all ONE of them AFAIK - calling this out.
Re:Pointless posturing (Score:5, Insightful)
I would like our current laws to be enforced. If the NSA is violating the law, those responsible should be prosecuted. If they aren't enforced, then there is literally no point in creating new laws.
Re:Pointless posturing (Score:2, Insightful)
The NSA is an agency out of control. To lie to the people is expected of an intelligence agency - to lie to Congress is another matter entirely.
Re:Pointless posturing (Score:5, Insightful)
I would like our current laws to be enforced.
As John Oliver said on the Daily Show when these stories started to break:
"Mr. President, no one is saying you broke any laws, we're just saying it's a little bit weird you didn't have to."
Re:Pointless posturing (Score:5, Insightful)
Any law that the NSA violates puts them at risk in court, and this could be especially hazardous as political climates change.
If the law isn't being enforced, that is the direct fault of the the President of the United States. He is in charge of enforcement, especially of executing laws related to national security. Don't weaken the law simply because the President fails to act.
Question? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Pointless posturing (Score:5, Insightful)
I would like our current laws to be enforced
And... Enforcement is the job of the Executive Branch, not Congress. Lots O' luck.
Remember the Huawei ban? (Score:4, Insightful)
If you want an example of how getting a reputation for even the potential of embedded backdoors in your products can bite you, recall the ban imposed on Huawei network products by the US and Australia's National Broadcast Network. These revelations about the NSA's activities and US companies who roll over for them will definitely hurt sales of US products. I'll bet there are some marketing campaigns already being mulled over that would say, "Unlike our US competition, we aren't subject to demands from the NSA, and if they ever approach us, we'll tell them where to stick it." At least, that's what I'd be considering if I were a foreign telecom manufacturer.
Re:Pointless posturing (Score:4, Insightful)
And... Enforcement is the job of the Executive Branch, not Congress. Lots O' luck.
Congress has the ultimate tool of enforcement in the form of impeachment.
Yeah. I said it. What Obama's administration has done (and his predecessors) far surpasses anything Nixon did in the realms of violating the law and covering it up. This includes a fair number of congress critters also.
Note the "and his predecessors": This is NOT a partisan issue. The whole lot should be thrown in jail.
Re: Locks? (Score:4, Insightful)
There are very few absolutes in life, if any, and it is probable that one can be absolutely sure that they were not spying on law abiding citizens in their own country when intercepting German messages.
The NSA is spying on its citizens in the name of preventing a terrorist attack, right? Ok, so at best they'll save a few thousand lives at the cost of billions of dollars while violating laws and rights.
That doesn't really seem worth it to me. If the goal is to save a few thousand lives we could certainly spend the money better.
Simple educational programs for drivers would save more lives.
First the Stick, THEN the carrot. (Score:4, Insightful)
Thanks for your efforts. But please remember that you have other, more effective tools at your disposal. The NSA has shown themselves a master in creative interpretation of law. Any new law will be twisted to their purposes. Then there will be years of appeals in the courts. Before you attempt new laws, you should immediately reassert Congress's most basic and irresistible power: The power to control the purse.
Your first act should be to slash the NSA's budget in half.
It is like working with a mule. First, you have to get their attention. As you slash their budget, explain that many of the NSA's actions have been dishonest. They have created long term problems for the rest of the country. And they have been spending their budget in ways that congress does not approve.
After you slash their budget, ask them to give the complete Congress a full accounting of how they intend to spend their remaining budget. Give them a week.
If they waffle or present an incomplete accounting, then cut their remaining budget in half.
Don't worry about the NSA. They have tens of billions of budget. You can cut their budget in half several times and they will still be able to support their best analysts. Their hardware is cheaper and more powerful than ever before. Even after the cuts, they will be as effective as any time in the past few decades. But, the cuts will remove their ability to dominate entire industries. And they will not be able to use that support to justify their illegal and unethical acts. And that is a good thing.
Above all, don't let the executive branch deter you. Controlling budget is your natural, constitutionally mandated role. Congress has been shirking their duties lately. The Black Budget has been a shameful abrogation of your responsibilities. Controlling the budget of the executive branch is your job. Don't let anybody talk you out of it.
It may take several rounds of budget cuts, but eventually they will come back in line. Then you can use law to guide them.