We don't like to make political statements too often here at DLS. It just seems a lot less complicated to fight over software, or whether or not something is Web 2.0, or pirates and ninjas. Every once in a while, though, something comes up that's just a little too out of line not to mention.

Wired reports that back in November, the FBI paid a visit to The Internet Archive and served founder Brewster Kahle with a National Security Letter. The NSL (.pdf link, be warned) is a funny sort of document. It is a subpoena that can be issued without a judge's watchful eye. It usually comes with an order to not tell anyone that the person in question has received it, excepting, of course, their lawyer. So Kahle couldn't tell board members, or his staff, or his teddy bear without legal repercussions.

NSLs aren't really new, but they've blossomed since the USA Patriot Act was enacted. According to Wired, though the FBI guidelines don't encourage frequent use, Congressional audits and the FBI itself reveal that it is likely that hundreds of thousands have been issued in the past seven years. It's likely, because, you know, the FBI doesn't actually seem to track how many they've used. Oh, whoops.

The other dimension to this drama is that the Internet Archive is more of a library than an ISP/communications provider. It seems, in light of that, that the NSL used was actually not the proper document to request the sort of things it was requesting from that institution. Whoops again.

This week, the government and The Internet Archive reached a settlement in regards to the NSL issue. The issued NSL is officially off the table. The Internet Archive can't say anything about what the information was that got the FBI so riled up in the first place.

Seeing that the Internet Archive archives public information, that anonymous browsing is allowed, and all that's required to sign up for an account is an email address, username and password (Kahle says IP addresses aren't logged) it doesn't seem as though the FBI will really find much helpful information. They will find a whole lot of Grateful Dead recordings, if that's any consolation.

[via LISNews via Wired]

The FBI and Chinese officials have seized more than 290,000 CDs with pirated software in a crackdown on groups in China and the US who were making and distributing the discs around the world. 25 people were arrested in the sting.

The CDs have an estimated value of $500 million, with software titles from companies including Microsoft and Symantec. Of course, if you do the math, officials are estimating that the the average disc was worth $1724.13, which just goes to show that the numbers are often somewhat inflated in these operations.

And of course the "retail value" of the software is often based on estimated losses from the companies who make the software, not on how much the bootleg versions will sell for. Sure, some of those who purchase pirated software would buy the legal version if bootleg discs weren't available, but that's not true for everyone.

This is not an endorsement of piracy. Those who create useful or fun software deserve to be compensated for it. All we're saying is you have to take these numbers with a grain of salt.

The FBI is announcing a crackdown on "botherders," or the unscrupulous folks who send out viruses and trojans to hijack your computer and use it for their own nefarious purposes. Sorry, had to make it sound like something out of an old Western there to fit wit the term "botherder."

Anyway, the FBI says it's identified over a million potentially infected IP addresses as part of an ongoing investigtion.

The feds also used their press release to highlight several recent arrests of people accused of operating botnets for their own financial gain, including spam-king Robert Soloway, Jason Michael Downey of Kentucy, and James C. Brewer of Texas who allegedly infected Chicago area hospitals. Come on, hospitals?

The FBI basically recommends you regularly update your anti-virus software and use a firewall to avoid having your computer taken over. And they say they'll be contacting owners of the infected computers they've identified -- but will not be asking for personal information over email, so don't give out your passwords to anyone who says they're from the FBI.

The FBI's Robert Mueller issued a statement saying that the FBI now wants ISPs to keep records longer or keep records period on their users who access the Internet, because terrorists use the net to perform key functions of their evil plots. While this is not unexpected for Internet users, we don't want our privacy stripped either, because of a terrorist using the Internet. This is the same old debate about whether to provide pay phones at fast food places or not, because they are used in some neighborhoods for drug deals. Where do you draw the line? Do you take all the rights of the good people because it is the only way to catch the bad people? This reminds me of Enemy of the State, where civil rights and the need to obtain critical intelligence data collides. Something tells me this will be a long drawn out battle before we see results, but it is a bit unnerving. Thoughts?

So, you've heard about the FBI's $170 million snafu? Now, the FBI has contracted with Lockheed Martin, who will reveal their $400 million plans in October, 2006 to integrate the FBI's data systems in a project called Sentinel. If you think about the difference between the FBI's information systems, and the ideology behind a tiny little site called MySpace, you'll see the problem. I know, weird thought, but wait for it. The FBI's information systems are decentralized and non-integrated. Special agents cannot get the information they need because it is compartmentalized in different systems and data storage structures scattered all over the landscape, instead of everything being accessible, in the same place, and in the same format. Now, MySpace is no secure, robust, or bulletproof system to help stop criminals (that's actually funny), but the social-centric website is at least good at connecting different people, places, events, and information in a standard way, and despite page loading problems actually works fairly well. Not that special agents need a customizable homepage to wow their buddies over a beer after a big drug bust, but the new Sentinel system proposed by Lockheed Martin will aim to give agents a central location to access information needed.

The Washington Post reports that the FBI's new software system had to be scrapped since it doesn't work. The $170 million project turned out to be nothing but 730, 000 lines of unusable code. It is tragic really. The software problem reports (SPR's) with the system numbered in the hundreds, just as Zalmai Azmi (FBI technology chief) thought the project was mere weeks from completion. Many critics point to bad management and sloppy work by the contractor for this large scale snafu. It is kinda unnerving that one of the foremost agencies fighting terrorists is the most outdated in the computing department. Kinda makes you want to lock your doors at night and invest in body armor. One thing is for sure, the FBI needs to get with the program. It isn't like they don't have the resources to do it. The $170 million could have bought them a ton more than it has. With that kind of money, you could hire the best code hackers from the world's largest software companies and do the job right. That is if you feed them enough junk food, Bawls, and have all-night code jams (aka hacker parties). Oh, yeah, and you could still have money to spare. And 730,000 lines of code is no problem for the elite (l337). How many lines does Windows XP or Linux have?

The FBI has requested - and obtained - records from Google pertaining to a Gmail account that was used to send threatening email to the NAACP. Information was requested of Google on June 22nd, 2006, after the email was sent to the NAACP one month earlier, on May 22nd. Through some digital sleuthing, the feds tracked the email to one Randall C. Ashby II of New York state.

Some reports on this matter are incorrectly stating that the feds had to search Google's headquarters and obtain this information themselves. According to eWeek, this is not true; Google apparently cooperated and offered this information of their own accord in compliance with the law, as Mr. Ashby II's act was a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 875c (Interstate Communication of a Threat).

[via Gmail.pro]