[Imc-radio] A letter from Simba (fwd)

[Sascha Meinrath]

FYI:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 23:34:23 EDT
From: BillhelpJ at aol.com
Subject: A letter from Simba

Greetings Reporters,

FSRN is currently looking for 15 features to be apart of our Global Power
Exposed Series for the month of October-November 2003.  The topic is: The Global
Attack on Civil Liberties.  Below are the three main issues that we are
interesting in investigating.

October - November 2003: The Global Attack on Civil Liberties
1: Using 'Terrorism' to Turn Back the Clock
2: Corporate America and the Loss of Civil Liberties
3: We Shall Not Be Moved: Community Resistance

Send story ideas to: simba at universalrhythms.org or fsrn-features at wbai.org.

Pitches should be a paragraph in length and should include the ideas and
angle you plan to approach in the story.  2. The news peg: meaning how it
relates to the present moment ( a new law, internal conflict, a breaking
down of laws, etc.) 3. The voices you intend to include

For this section we need pitches dealing with civil liberties on the home
front.  Stories could talk about laws, proposals, defense spending,
anthrax and the postal system, global security, cyber-terrorism, etc.
Below are ideas based on recent reports found in the U.S. news but we want
local stories from around the world.

1. Using "Terrorism" to turn back the clock

---Bush backed calls made by Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, who has
argued that the passage of the USA Patriot Act, a collection of laws
increasing the investigative powers of government agents, still does not
give the government the same authority to investigate terrorists that is
used in organized-crime cases. However, Ashcroft has said that the USA
Patriot Act has been an important weapon, and he has been touring the
country to highlight its benefits.

---CYBER TERRORISM is the premeditated use of disruptive activities, or
the threat thereof, against computers and/or networks, with the intention
to cause harm or further social, ideological, religious, political or
similar objectives, or to intimidate any person in furtherance of such
objectives.

---If your look at the projected eCommerce number for this year, the
Internet being down for just one day could disrupt nearly $6.5 billion
worth of transactions.  More than just eCommerce transactions flow over
the Internet. eMail, voice communications, some banking machines, credit
card authorizations for physical stores and the list goes on and on.
Information is the life blood of commerce, regulatory oversight and even
social status. The importance of the information and the ability to access
it, transfer it and act upon it has increased to the point that it is
unfathomable for all but the smallest of businesses to operate without
computers or networks. As the value of the computing infrastructure
increases so to does the value of disruption. The financial implications
are one thing, but the psychological impact of the Internet disruption
could be even more damaging.

---San Antonio is leading the nation when it comes to dealing with
possible cyber-attacks. In a joint effort, the military; the Dark Screen."
It's based at the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security at
UTSA.  Over the next 10 days, participants will be given cyber-attack
scenarios.  The results of their performance will be used to improve
response times. "So we ensure that we are prepared to deal with a
cyber-attack -- much as we would a regular physical attack," Miller said.

---ANTHRAX-On Saturday, postal workers started to decontaminate the
Trenton Processing and Distribution Center in Hamilton Township.  It has
been two years since the building was closed after anthrax was found at
the facility.

Since October 2001, Hamilton Township's postal epicenter sat abandoned and
out of service.  Two years ago, a rash of letters laced with anthrax were
processed in the building.  This prompted federal officials to shut down
the facility indefinitely.

On Saturday afternoon, postal workers, under the supervision of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pumped low levels of
anthrax-killing chlorine dioxide gas into the building.  The four-hour
process was an initial test for a future full scale clean up campaign.
Postal officials and the EPA will evaluate the decontamination through
most of this week.  A similar procedure killed anthrax spores at the
Brentwood Postal facility in Washington, D.C.  where two employees died
from anthrax exposure.  The major decontamination process for the postal
facility is set for later on this month.

2. Corporate America and the Loss of Civil Liberties

---In two separate deals, IBM has announced today that it is working with
the UK and Russia on Linux projects that will further establish the Linux
operating system in the public sector.  In the past most countries have
opted to use the Microsoft system.  But since recent events dealing with
security concerns due to Microsoft's relationship to the U.S. and it's
software capability of spying on other countries.  Recently the UK has
discontinued the use of Microsoft Word due to the fact that it has
capabilities allowing third parties to grab information off one's computer
and even read items that may have been deleted from the final version
while in transit.

---USA:  Spying for Fun and Profit By Kari Lydersen, Alternet May 28, 2003
New technology has become ubiquitous in the post-Sept. 11 world. Biometric
devices record the facial bone structures, iris scans, voices and other
physical attributes of every person who walks by in an airport, stadium or
park. Electronic monitors track web page visits or bank transactions.
Even good old-fashioned video surveillance cameras are being used more
than ever in conjunction with facial recognition software.

All these technologies raise serious questions about invasions of privacy
and violations of civil liberties. They also cost a lot of money.
Taxpayers fund this massively beefed up security.  Private corporations
and even individuals are also paying large amounts to boost their own
security procedures in light of the war on terrorism. Naturally, someone
is also profiting off this boom.

Market analysts and corporate watchdog groups note that there have been a
raft of upstart companies jumping into the security/ surveillance market,
and existing major security and defense companies have expanded their
product lines and sales.

''There's definitely more demand,'' noted Lee Tien, a staff attorney for
the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which monitors electronic-related
privacy and civil liberties issues. ''For example you see this stuff
popping up in airports, and then that creates secondary effects where all
these vendors realize they have something to sell and start marketing it,
and then legislation like aviation security helps. And then there's this
ripple effect where people [and corporations] say, 'Well if the
government's doing it, maybe we better be doing it too.'''

There are several main technologies driving the market: bomb and
explosives detection devices used at airports and other high security
areas; biometrics technology used all across the spectrum for screening
and identifying people; smart card technology to combine data on an
all-purpose ID card, as has been discussed with the standardized national
driver's license; and electronic data-mining technology of the type that
would be used to compile records for the Terrorism Information Awareness
(formerly Total Information Awareness)  program.

The Spy-Tech Boom

One of the first widespread security technologies to be discussed after
the Sept. 11 attacks was face recognition software in airports. Almost
immediately after the terrorist attacks, two providers of this software
Visionis and Viisage started marketing their products as terror prevention
solutions.

''Their publicity stunt worked,'' said Chris Hoofnagle of the Electronic
Privacy Information Center (EPIC) in a Nov. 2001 interview with the
Multinational Monitor. ''Their stock prices doubled very quickly, and it
appeared as though different public transportation centers would adopt the
technology. In fact, Oakland International Airport has.''

Since then, various other airports including Dallas, Rhode Island and
Boston and other tourist destinations including the Virginia Beach
oceanfront and a Tampa nighlife district have purchased facial recognition
systems. One of the main beneficiaries has been Pelco Inc., the world's
largest maker of video security systems.

The growth in demand for software alone to comply with the PATRIOT Act has
been huge the act requires financial institutions, including banks, credit
card companies and insurance carriers, to closely monitor customer
activity. Cisco, Sybase, Sun Microsystems and Oracle are just a few of the
various software companies ready to meet these demands, often by expanding
their existing lines of anti-money laundering (or AML) software.

''Compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act has never been easier, thanks to
Sybase's PATRIOT compliance solution,'' says a promo on the company's web
site.

There has been some small protest within the companies; in March 2003,
Groove Networks Inc.  board member Mitch Kapor quit in protest over Groove
selling its software to the government for anti-terrorism surveillance.
And one vendor refused to sell its software to the government.  But, for
the most part, companies have jumped at the chance of government
contracts.

Veni, Vidi, Vendors

In a report called ''The USA PATRIOT Act: Impact on AML Vendors and the
Market,'' financial services analyst Breffni McGuire wrote that,
''although the law imposes new burdens on banks, it is proving to be a
boon for vendors of AML and related products and technology.''

The report said software vendors had seen inquiries rise 200 to 300
percent in the months following Sept. 11. Many are hesitant to question
the necessity or efficiency of security-related expenditures, but the fact
is this may be more a matter of companies capitalizing on opportunity to
create a demand rather than developing products that genuinely offer a
needed service. In reality, much of the now-popular security technology
had been developed and marketed for other purposes before Sept. 11.

For example for years Oracle had been pushing for a national ID system
which would include a standardized driver's license or other card with a
biometric identifier. In the Multinational Monitor interview Hoofnagle
noted that Oracle offered to donate software to run the program to the
government, in hopes of future profit.

''Donating the software is a significant move, however Oracle would
significantly profit from maintaining the database in the future,''
Hoofnagle said. ''National ID is extremely expensive, and in other
countries where it has been proposed, officials invariably underestimate
the cost.''

Likewise in 2002 the Food and Drug Administration approved the
long-in-development sale of subdermal microchips which would allow
someone's location to be tracked at any moment.  While now these chips are
mentioned as parts of a hazy plan to keep tabs on all residents at all
times, in the past they were marketed to parents on the basis that they
could help them find their children should they be kidnapped.

''Lots of these technologies have been in the works and looking for a
justification for a long time,'' said Charlie Cray of the group Citizen
Works. ''Then some news event comes along and they find someone to push
it. For example, every once in a while you see a national story about some
kid getting kidnapped. Then someone says that's a reason why parents
should get their kids registered in some kind of national database. Of
course, what they don't tell you is the corporate motive behind this
fear-mongering. That Oracle just happens to own the national ID database
that would be used.''

Biometric Bungles

A report released by the General Accounting Office (GAO) in spring of 2002
said that government agencies had spent more than $50 million in the past
five years on camera surveillance technology, with a notable increase in
spending proposals after Sept. 11. A big chunk of this money was funneled
toward facial recognition programs, which made up 90 percent of government
surveillance budgets since 1997 according to the GAO report. In the
pre-terrorism era, significant surveillance funds were also designated for
catching and fining red light runners. In nabbing red light runners,
surveillance technology has been highly effective. But for catching
would-be terrorists, it is a different story.

While biometrics is currently all the rage for everything from scanning
for terrorists in crowds at public events to recording participants at
demonstrations, the fact is the technology is highly error-prone and not
well-suited for these functions. A study by the National Institute for
Standards in Technology showed that face recognition biometric technology
turned up false positives in matching scans with a database 43 percent of
the time.

''There are enormous operational problems here,'' said Tien. ''It's one
thing to use biometrics to control who enters an office building, but it's
another to try to screen thousands of people at an airport or border
crossing.''

He noted that the use of biometrics and other surveillance equipment at
borders is really in vain, since it can only be used at official border
checkpoints and other small specific areas of the huge borders. ''If a
terrorist really wants to get into the country they'll just hire a
marijuana smuggler to get them in a boat into the swamps in Louisiana,''
he said.

Defense CEOs' Cash Crop

David Martin, a researcher and media coordinator at the non-profit United
for a Fair Economy, noted that as with surveillance technology, increased
government spending as well as speculation is leading to major
profiteering for defense companies and even more so for their CEOs. A
recent report Martin co-authored, called ''More Bucks for the Bang,''
found that the salaries of CEOs of the top 37 publicly traded defense
companies have mushroomed way out of proportion to other CEOs and also out
of proportion to the companies' actual profits.

''They're pocketing a lot,'' Martin said of the CEOs. ''We had an inkling
that their pay was increasing but after we did the study we were shocked
by the actual numbers we saw.''

While these companies are primarily involved with manufacturing weapons,
many of them, including Dell Computers, also develop electronic or other
surveillance-related technologies.

The defense company CEOs' pay increased an average of 79 percent from 2001
to 2002, compared to 6 percent for CEOs in general. The CEO of Lockheed
Martin, the country's largest defense contractor, increased 400 percent.
The study also found that the amount of a company's campaign contributions
are in direct correlation (statistically .90) with the size of the defense
contracts they receive.

As with most of the legislation and political programs that have come to
pass since Sept. 11, the growing market for security and surveillance
isn't likely to go away even if our country goes years without suffering a
terrorist attack. Even before most people had ever heard of Al Qaeda,
Americans were becoming more and more obsessed with both locking
themselves in and finding ways to sneak peeks at others witness the
parallel growth in both gated communities and voyeuristic web cams and
reality TV shows.

''You can't totally differentiate between what's going on now and the
natural trends before Sept.  11,'' Tien said, noting the long-time
grassroots popularity of low-level surveillance gadgets.  ''People are
very interested in security and watching each other we're all watched by
Big Brother, but we're also all little brothers watching each other.''
Now, with security as the excuse for all kinds of surveillance, there are
a few companies who stand to make a large profit and a lot of citizens who
will lose something even more precious their privacy.

3. We Shall Not Be Moved: Community Resistance- What is the communities
response, protests, rallies, etc.  How is the community coming together to
stop the attack on civil liberties around the world?  This section is good
for stories about deportation policies that have been changed since 911.

--Australian immigration officials have given deported asylum seekers
money to bribe border guards on arrival at their destination, a report
released yesterday claims.

More than a third of the 20 people interviewed as part of a research
project on the fate of deported asylum seekers said they had been
encouraged to place cash inside travel documents to ease their way over
borders.

Phil Glendenning, who co-wrote the report, said he had heard claims that
staff from Aus- tralasian Correctional Management, which runs the
detention centres for the Immigration Department, were involved.

He said the deportees had claimed they were given the money inside
detention centres before they left for the airport and were told variously
to put either $US50 or $US200 inside their travel documents.

"Specific amounts were mentioned that needed to be placed inside travel
documents and handed to immigration officials upon arrival," Mr
Glendenning said in the report, No Liability - Tragic Results from
Australia's Deportations .

"The researchers tend to accept this allegation because it is so widely
told by interviewees in independent interviews."

Last week Mr Glendenning, with his co-authors Tony Morris, Carmel Leavey
and Margaret Hetherton, reported deportee accusations of immigration
officials engaging in "reverse people smuggling", where detainees were
encouraged to acquire false passports so they could leave Australia.

Six Bedoon deportees interviewed in Syria said they had been given the
money and instructions in how to bribe officials for entry to Damascus. .
Bedoons are not permitted re-entry to their birth country of Kuwait.

Mr Glendenning said: "The Immigration Department will say in their defence
that everyone gets X amount of dollars when they are deported. But they
were all told, 'Put it in your travel document and they won't look past
the first page'. It's giving them money to buy border guards."

Some who were deported to Syria also said dossiers on their political
backgrounds had been sent to authorities there and were used to question
them on arrival at Damascus airport.

The report refers to one man who was taken from the airport to a prison
where he was beaten and held for a month until relatives paid a bribe for
his release.

The man believes that negative information about him had been supplied to
the Syrian authorities "because he had been a leader in the detention
centre and had made contact with Australian journalists". However, the
researchers could not verify this, the report said.

The Immigration Department last night denied it had supplied bribes for
deportees. "It is, however, standard practice to give returnees money to
meet their immediate living expenses upon their arrival at their
destination and that is where they do not have sufficient funds of their
own to meet their immediate needs," a spokeswoman said.

"Other than the provision of basic identity information to obtain travel
documents, no other information held by [the department] is provided.

"As to any other information these governments obtain or hold on
returnees, it is a matter for them."