[dave at farber.net: [IP] Italy requires logging of personal info at cybercafes]

Tyler Durden camera_lumina at hotmail.com
Tue Oct 4 09:32:28 PDT 2005


Well, the great thing about the Italians is that you can bet in large parts 
of Italy the law is already routinely ignored. 6 months from now it will be 
forgotten.

-TD


>From: Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org>
>To: cypherpunks at jfet.org
>Subject: [dave at farber.net: [IP] Italy requires logging of personal info  at 
>cybercafes]
>Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2005 15:20:15 +0200
>
>----- Forwarded message from David Farber <dave at farber.net> -----
>
>From: David Farber <dave at farber.net>
>Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2005 08:54:46 -0400
>To: Ip Ip <ip at v2.listbox.com>
>Subject: [IP] Italy requires logging of personal info at cybercafes
>X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.734)
>Reply-To: dave at farber.net
>
>
>
>Begin forwarded message:
>
>From: Brett Glass <brett at lariat.net>
>Date: October 4, 2005 2:25:50 AM EDT
>To: dave at farber.net
>Subject: For IP: Italy requires logging of personal info at cybercafes
>
>
>Want to check your e-mail in Italy? Bring your passport.
>An antiterror law makes Internet cafe managers check their clients'
>IDs and track the websites they visit.
>
>By Sofia Celeste | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
>
>ROME - Looking out over the cobblestone streets of Rome's Borgo Pio
>neighborhood, Maurizio Savoni says he's closing his Internet cafe
>because he doesn't want to be a "cop" anymore.
>
>After Italy passed a new antiterrorism package in July, authorities
>ordered managers offering public communications services, like Mr.
>Savoni,to make passport photocopies of every customer seeking to use
>the Internet, phone, or fax.
>
>"This new law creates a heavy atmosphere," says Savoni, his desk
>cluttered with passport photocopies. He is visibly irritated, as he
>proceeds to halt clients at the door for their ID.
>
>Passed within weeks of the London bombings this summer, the law is
>part of the most extensive antiterror package introduced in Italy
>since 9/11 and the country's subsequent support of the Iraq war.
>
>Though the legislation also includes measures to heighten
>transportation security, permit DNA collection, and facilitate the
>detention or deportation of suspects, average Italians are feeling
>its effect mainly in Internet cafes.
>
>But while Italy has a healthy protest culture, no major opposition to
>the law has emerged.
>
>Before the law was passed, Savoni's clients were anonymous to him.
>Now they must be identified by first and last name. He must also
>document which computer they use, as well as their log-in and log-out
>times.
>
>Like other owners of Internet cafes, Savoni had to obtain a new
>public communications business license, and purchase tracking
>software that costs up to $1,600.
>
>The software saves a list of all sites visited by clients, and
>Internet cafe operators must periodically turn this list into their
>local police headquarters.
>
>"After 9/11, Madrid, and London, we all have to do our utmost best to
>fight terrorism," says a government official who asked not to be named.
>
>Italy claims that its new stance on security led to the arrest of
>Hussein Osman, also known as Hamdi Issac - one of the men behind the
>failed bombing of the London underground July 21.
>
>"Hamdi was well known to our security people and had relatives here
>with whom he communicated, in some form," says the government
>official in an e-mail interview.
>
>But Silvia Malesa, a young Internet cafe owner in the coastal village
>of Olbia, Sardinia, remains unconvinced.
>
>"This is a waste of time," says Ms. Malesa in a telephone interview.
>"Terrorists don't come to Internet cafes."
>
>And now, would-be customers aren't coming either, say Savoni and
>Malesa. Since the law was enacted, Savoni has seen an estimated 10
>percent drop in business.
>
>"So many people who come in here ask 'why?' and then they just
>leave," Savoni says.
>
>Most tourists who wander in from the streets, he explains, leave
>their passports at home or are discouraged when asked to sign a
>security disclaimer.
>
>Savoni says the new law violates his privacy, comparing it to
>America's antiterrorism law that allows authorities to monitor
>Internet use without notifying the person in question.
>
>"It is a control system like America's Patriot Act," he says.
>
>Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union have criticized the
>Patriot Act because it permits the government to ask libraries for a
>list of books someone has borrowed or the websites they have visited.
>
>Under Italy's new antiterror legislation, only those who are on a
>black list for terrorist connections are in danger of having their e-
>mails read, according to the government official.
>
>Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu has declared Italy will stop at
>nothing to fight terror.
>
>"I will continue to prioritize action to monitor the length and
>breadth of the country, without ever underestimating reasonably
>reliable reports of specific threats," said Mr. Pisanu in a Sept. 29
>interview with Finmeccanica Magazine. Pisanu has also called for
>developing sophisticated technology to combat terror on Italian soil.
>
>"There is no doubt that, to achieve maximum efficiency, we need the
>support of the best technological applications," Pisanu affirmed.
>
>As a result, Pisanu has formed the Strategic Anti-terrorism Analysis
>Committee, which aims to examine and take action against all terror
>threats.
>
>Due to new measures, more than 25 Islamic extremists were arrested on
>Italian soil in 2005, according to the Interior Ministry. The
>ministry also reported that they are conducting "rigorous
>surveillance" of high-risk areas of terrorist activity and over
>13,000 strategic locations in Italy. On Aug. 12 and 13 alone, a
>reported 32,703 checks were carried out on suspicious individuals.
>
>Despite the inconvenience, most Italians seem relatively unfazed by
>the law.
>
>"If I am not doing anything wrong, fundamentally nothing is going to
>happen to me," says Mauro Pallotta, a young artist, after checking
>his e-mail at Savoni's cafe.
>
>URL: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1004/p07s01-woeu.htm
>
>
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>Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a>
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