Government Rules and Regulations Affecting the Internet

US Patriot Act: The most critical law related to Internet is the US Patriot Act. It was passed to unite and strengthen United States by providing appropriate tools required to intercept and obstruct terrorism. The Act provides broad powers to several government agencies to intercept communications on Internet to ensure internal security. The act creates a definition of computer trespasser and makes such activities a terrorist act in certain circumstances. As per this act: 1. A person can be arrested, if that person logs into a computer without authorized permission. Such person is considered trespasser. 2. The damage computer trespassers can inflict, either knowingly or unwittingly, often goes beyond merely being a nuisance and in most cases rises to the level of a federal crime (pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1030). 3. If a person have ever trashed someones MySpace page, hacked their password, or sent false email messages might be called trespasser. If that email had a virus that caused damage to a protected or private computer, shutdown a key system, or did damage to programs or systems that the government considers critical, the person will be considered terrorist. 4. Section 210 expands the scope of subpoenas for records of electronic communications to include records commonly associated with Internet usage, such as session times and duration. 5. The Patriot Act facilitated information sharing and cooperation among government agencies so that they can better connect the dots. The Patriot Act provides government with unchecked powers. There is no privacy on internet. As per ACLU the act allows government to rifle through individuals' financial records, medical histories, Internet usage, bookstore purchases, library usage, travel patterns, or any other activity that leaves a record. Electronic Communication Privacy Act (ECPA): EPCA established procedures for law enforcements access to data and electronic communication in 1986. EPCA was created when information technology age was in germinating stage. EPCA created standards for interception and disclosure of communications and was Patriot Act granted it expansive legal powers to intercept. The government officials and legislators are chasing technology instead of protecting rights. The critical points about these laws are: Americans should expect privacy based on constitutional rights instead of relying on laws based on current technology. One should not depend on laws and government to protect ones privacy. The course of law should be changed in future so that individuals own their personal information and must give consent ahead of time for its use. Childrens On-line Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA): Passed in 2000, applies to applies to operators of commercial web sites, general audience sites and online services which are directed to children under 13 and collect personal information from the children. The Rule requires operators to: 1. Obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children. 2. Not condition a childs participation in a game, contest or other activity on the childs disclosing more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in that activity. 3. Maintain the confidentiality, security and integrity of personal information collected from children. COPPA is not successful in achieving its intents due to various reasons. Hence FTC is currently considering revising COPPA. The use of mobile communications to access the internet, interactive gaming and other media is under special scrutiny. There is a Harvard study recommending limiting how data about minors can be shared with third parties, limiting how commercial interests can target minors and requiring that minors opt in to changes to privacy policies and sharing policies. The recommendation is trying to shift the focus on the use of data collection rather than determining how old the users are. Conclusion: The laws invariable conflict between Privacy and security. Individual rights are gradually diminishing with passage of such laws. And these laws force us to think if law will ever be able to catch up with technology.