Source: FBI wants internet records kept for two years

The Federal Bureau of Investigation wants U.S. Internet providers to retain Web address records for up to two years to aid investigations into terrorism and pornography, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Provided that they tell me they’re doing so, I don’t care if the ISPs keep the records of their own volition and for internal—i.e., their own—purposes.

I do care when the government forces them to do such.

The request came during a May 26 meeting between U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller with top executives at companies like Google, Microsoft, and AOL.

“I think there is less of a willingness to passively go along with this type of request than there might have been a year ago,” said the source, mentioning the recent uproar over a report that telephone companies had provided call records to the National Security Agency.

I think there is more of a willingness to happily comply with this type of request than there definitely was before 9/11.

A Justice Department spokesman confirmed the meeting but was not immediately available to comment on how long law enforcement officials wanted the records retained.

What a surprise.

“This meeting was an initial discussion for the Attorney General to gather information and to solicit input from Internet service provider executives on the issues associated with data retention,” said spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.

Input that will be ignored unless it’s what Gonzales and the Feds want to hear.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Gonzales presented blurred images of child pornography and explained why he thought retaining data was important to those investigations. At issue were IP addresses.

The it’s-for-the-children card is to make those who oppose the government’s coercion appear to be child-haters or child molesters or something equally horrible.

When one industry executive questioned how long the government wanted the records kept, Mueller said for two years and that the data would also be used for anti-terrorism purposes, said the source.

Just like monitoring Americans’ phone calls is “for anti-terrorism purposes.” One day, I suppose, video surveillance of the interior of every American’s house will be “for anti-terrorism purposes” as well.

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