On 1/29/2013 10:59 AM, Jay Ashworth wrote:
From: "Rob McEwen" <rob@invaluement.com> (C) The fact that the Internet is a series of PRIVATE networks... NOT owned/operated by the Feds... is a large reason why the 4th amendment provides such protections... it becomes somewhat of a "firewall" of protection against Federal gov't trampling of civil liberties... but if they own the network, then that opens up many doors for them. Regular readers know that I'm really big on municipally owned fiber networks (at layer 1 or 2)... but I'm also a big constitutionalist (on the first, second, fourth, and fifth, particularly), and this is the first really good counter-argument I've seen, and it honestly hadn't occurred to me.
Rob, anyone, does anyone know if any 4th amendment case law exists on muni- owned networks?
Good question. Here is another thing to consider regarding SOME muni network... (at least where private citizens/businesses subscribe to that network) When any government entity desires log files from an ISP, and if that ISP is very protective of their customer's privacy and civil liberties, then the ISP typically ONLY complies with the request if there is a proper court order, granted by a judge, after "probable cause" of some kind of crime has been established, where they are not on a fishing expedition. But, in contrast, if the city government owns the network, it seems like a police detective contacting his fellow city employee in the IT department could easily circumvent the civil liberties protections. Moreover, there is an argument that the ISP being stingy with such data causes them to be "heros" to the public, and they gain DESIRED press and attention when they refuse to comply with such requests without a court order. In contrast, the city's IT staff and the police detective BOTH share the SAME boss's boss's boss. The IT guy won't get a pat on the back for making life difficult for the police department. He'll just silently lose his job eventually, or get passed up for a promotion. The motivation will be on him to PLEASE his fellow city employees, possibly at the expense of our civil liberties. PS - of course, no problems here if the quest to gain information involves a muni network that is only used by city employees. PPS - then again, maybe my "log file example" doesn't apply to the particular implementation that Jay described? Regardless, it DOES apply to various government implementations of broadband service. -- Rob McEwen http://dnsbl.invaluement.com/ rob@invaluement.com +1 (478) 475-9032