"Another law goes through and nobody noticed" would have been a better title for this piece of news. The Department of Homeland Security is now but a signature away from existence after being voted upon by the US Senate.
Very few sites picked up on its significance: a balanced overview as usual comes from the BBC and a more polemic note from the italian paper L' Unità (in italian).
You might ask: so what? Well, it gives pretty much unlimited powers of snooping and sniffing although Ashcroft's rather controversial "TIPS" (Terrorist Information Prevention System) didn't make it. On top you now have life sentences for "hacking crimes" if they cause "tragic events".
Not surprisingly there isn't a single civil liberties association which finds the law appropriate...
Posted by arrigo at November 21, 2002 03:24 PM