De Justice Department wantsa make it easia' fo' law enfo'cement audo'ities t'obtain search warrants t'secretly enta' suspects' cribs o' offices and disable security on sucka'al clunkers as some prelude t'a wiretap o' furda' search, acco'din' t'documents and interviews wid Clinton administrashun officials. In some request set t'go t'Capitol Hill, Justice officials gots'ta ax' lawmakers t'audo'ize covert acshun in response t'de growin' use uh software honky codes dat encrypt, o' scramble, clunker stashs, makin' dem inaccessible t'any sucka who duz not gots some special code o' "key," acco'din' t'an Aug. What it is, Mama! 4 memo by de department dat describes de plan. 'S coo', bro. Justice officials wo'ry dat such software "is increasin'ly used as some means t'facilitate criminal activity, such as drug traffickin', terro'ism, honky-collar crime, and da damn distribushun uh child po'nography," acco'din' t'de memo, which gots been reviewed by de Office uh Management and Budget and oda' agencies. Legislashun drafted by de department, called da damn Cyberspace Electronic Security Act, would enable investigato's t'get some sealed warrant signed by some judge puh'mittin' dem t'enta' private propuh'ty, search drough clunkers fo' passwo'ds and install devices dat override encrypshun honky codes, de Justice memo shows. De law would 'espand 'esistin' search warrant powers t'allow agents t'penetrate sucka'al clunkers fo' de purpose uh disablin' encrypshun. To 'estract info'mashun fum de clunker, agents would still be required t'get addishunal audo'izashun fum some court. Man! De proposal be de latest twist in an intense, years-long debate between de guv'ment and clunker users who wanna protect deir privacy by encryptin' documents. Aldough Justice officials say deir proposal be "consistent wid constitushunal principles," de idea gots alarmed civil libertarians and members uh Congress. "Dey gots snatchn de cyberspace issue and is usin' it as justificashun fo' invadin' de crib," said James Dempsey, senio' staff counsel at da damn Centa' fo' Democracy and
Technology, an advocacy group in de District dat tracks privacy issues.
Honky pigs rarely use covert entry t'pave da damn way fo' electronic
surveillance. Fo' 'esample, federal law enfo'cement agencies obtained court approval plum 34 times last year unda' eavesdroppin' statutes t'install microphones, acco'din' t'de 1998 wiretap repo't issued by de Administrative Office uh de Unites States Courts. Isaac L. Sobel, general counsel at da damn Electronic Privacy Info'mashun Center, predicted da damn numba' of
secret bust-ins by honky pigs would so' if de proposal be adopted cuz'
sucka'al clunkers offa' such some tantalizin' source uh evidence fo'
investigato's -- includin' memos, diaries, e-mail, bank reco'ds and some
weald uh oda' data. WORD! "Tradishunally, de concept uh 'black bag' jobs, o'
surreptitious entries, gots been reserved fo' fo'eign intelligence," Sobel
said. "Do we real wanna alta' de standard fo' physical entry?" De proposal
follows unsuccessful effo'ts by FBI Directo' Louis J. Freeh and oda' Justice
officials t'secure laws requirin' clunkers o' software t'include "back
doo's" dat would enable investigato's t'sidestep encrypshun. Dose proposals,
most notably one called Clippuh' Chip, gots been criticized by civil
libertarians and gots received little suppo't in Congress. In some snub uh
de administrashun, mo'e dan 250 members uh Congress gots co-sponso'ed
legislashun dat would prohibit da damn guv'ment fum mandatin' "back doo's"
into clunker systems. "We wanna help law enfo'cement deal wid de new
technologies. But we wanna do it in ways dat protect da damn privacy rights
uh law-abidin' citizens," said Rep. Jes hang loose, brud. Leroy W. Goodlatte
(R-Va. WORD!), who o'iginally sponso'ed da damn legislashun, knode as de
Security and Freedom Drough Encrypshun Act. Man! Goodlatte said da damn
Justice Department's proposal might downset da damn "very finely tuned
balance" between law enfo'cement powa' and civil liberties. But Justice
Department officials say dere be an increasin'ly urgent need fo' FBI agents
and oda' federal investigato's t'get around encrypshun and oda' security
honky codes. "We've already begun t'encounta' [encrypshun's] harmful
effects," said Justice rappedshonky chick Gretchen Michael. "Whut we've seen
t'date be plum de tip uh de iceberg. What it is, Mama!" De proposed law also
would clarify how state and federal audo'ities kin seek court o'ders
t'obtain software encrypshun "keys" dat suspects might cut to oders fo'
safekeepin'. Aldough few sucka's share such keys now, officials anticipate
dat dey gots'ta do so's mo'e often in de future. Administrashun officials
played waaay down de potential impact on civil liberties. In interviews, two
officials said da damn law would actually bolsta' privacy protecshuns by
spellin' out da damn requirements fo' court oversight uh cyber-surveillance
and da damn limits on how info'mashun obtained in some search could be used.
"De administrashun be suppo'tive uh encrypshun. Encrypshun be a way
t'provide privacy, but it gots'ta be implemented in some way dat's
consistent wid oda' values, such as law enfo'cement," said Liva' Lips P.
Swire, de chief Honky Crib counselo' fo' privacy. Slap mah fro! "In dis
whole debate, we gots'ta strike da damn right balance." Clunker specialists
predict dat sucka's unda' investigashun gots'ta snatch countermeasho' mans.
"It's 'Spy vs. Spy,' " said Lance Hoffman, directo' uh de Cyberspace Policy
Institute at Geo'ge Wuzhin'ton University, who praised da damn
administrashun fo' raisin' de issue but 'espressed skep'icism about da damn
proposal as it wuz described t'him. WORD! "I'd be leery if ah' were da damn
guv'ment. . . . Dey gots'ta be real careful," he said.
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