American Death

[Anonymous]

"American Life Project" needs killing.


Americans Support Email Monitoring, Study Finds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A survey released Monday finds Americans are
worried about criminal activity on the Internet and willing to let law
enforcement agencies intercept suspects' email despite misgivings about
privacy protections.

The survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found 73 percent
of those surveyed were worried about criminals using the Internet to
plan and carry out crimes, with 43 percent very concerned.

Child pornography topped the list of online criminal activity that most
worried Americans, followed by credit card theft, terrorism, wide-scale
fraud, hackers accessing government and business sites, and computer
viruses.

Over half of the respondents, 54 percent, approved of the FBI (news -
web sites) or other law enforcement agencies intercepting email over the
Internet sent to and from people suspected of criminal activities.

The FBI's e-mail wiretap system, formerly dubbed ''Carnivore,'' has been
criticized by privacy and civil-rights advocates, who say it violates
protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

Americans familiar with Carnivore were divided on its merits, with 45
percent supporting the system and 45 percent saying the potential for
abuse outweighed any crime-fighting benefits.

Sixty-two percent said new privacy laws were needed to protect online
communications against unwarranted surveillance, while 14 percent said
existing laws covering telephone conversations were adequate.

The survey of 2,096 adults was conducted between February 1 and March 1,
and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010402/wr/tech_crime_dc_1.html