I've been insanely busy the past few days; two large network migrations happening simultaneously, a few gigs (inset pic from the Todd Royce Band show at Kelly's Row in Dover, NH), and a large dose of general contracting for the house I'm building.... may you live in interesting times. All the time spent in the car, driving to and from various engagements and obligations has been rather cathartic. I've been refle All the time spent in the car, driving to and from various engagements and obligations has been rather cathartic. I’ve been reflecting on recent events, and the overwhelming specter of the loss of the Internet as we know it. Cisco’s Watching Cisco recently released an RFC detailing the implementation of lawful intercept within IP networks. This is in direct response to the PATRIOT act passed with great haste in the wake of September 11th, 2001. The PATRIOT act has too many glaring constitutional violations to count, but the fact that it may be overturned by the Supreme Court doesn’t really matter. Cisco has gone ahead and scripted the foundation of the mechanism that will be used to tap into the on-line actions of any individual. Cisco claims that this is a much-requested feature, and there are several large ISPs using Cisco gear that have been clamoring for this capability. Given the current state of fear and ignorance shown by legislators at the state and federal level, this was due to happen sooner or later. The real question is how pervasive will the use of this new capability be? Will the restrictions placed on it’s usage be founded in reality or in a fascist utopia? Suffice it to say that the rights curtailed by the PATRIOT act pale in comparison to the outright undermining of the constitution delivered by the proposed PATRIOT II legislation. Simply posting this entry in this blog may flag me as a “extremist” and subject me to the watchful eye of the government. Has everyone forgotten Joe McCarthy? Strong encryption is and has been widely available. There’s no chance of putting 3DES, blowfish, IDEA, or any other cryptography back in the box, but legislating the use of such may be coming; after all, what secrets does a church-going, upstanding citizen have to protect? As Declan McCullagh reports in his interview with Fred Baker, Cisco fellow and lead engineer of the lawful intercept RFC, Cisco has thought about these issues, but has continued designing the basis of this functionality. Apparently some ISPs would rather not have this capability, since they can then deny access to data on the grounds that they can’t collect it.Are we to be satisfied with the notion of a benevolent dictator of IP espionage? Certainly other companies will implement similar functions, but Cisco is the first on the scene and is setting the bar. The Internet has always had it’s share of unilateral control; Jon Postel was the one human on the planet that controlled the Internet in no small way during his lifetime. Without his even hand on the tiller, the Internet might have become a very different place. It goes without saying that he’s been missed for the past five years, and many of the ideals he stood for have been undermined by government and corporate interests, and the trend continues. If we accept that lawful intercept is a forgone conclusion, do we then accept Cisco as the technical liaison to the removal of our on-line privacy? DARPA’s Sour Grapes DARPA finally admitted that anti-war comments from lead OpenBSD developer Theo DeRaadt were the catalyst for pulling a US$2 million grant to the POSSE project. Since Theo is Canadian, there’s no direct freedom-of-speech violations (or they’ve not been fleshed out yet), but the fact remains that if you’re not toeing the party line — regardless of citizenship — you’re endangering your freedom and livelihood. Super-DMCA Thousands of blogs have been burning the digital candle getting the word out about the extraordinary efforts of the MPAA and RIAA to push model legislation through in several states, leaving a trail of broken constitutional rights and loss of freedom in their wake. As I write this, normal use of the Internet in several states is illegal, with penalties potentially eclipsing those of rape and murder. More states seem to be jumping on this bandwagon as the greenback grease moves through the political system. What’s next? We are at a crossroads of sorts. The political castration of the Internet been visible for years, but the words and deeds that will condemn our freedoms on-line and off are being written or signed into law right now. There is always chance of repeal, but the hard work has been done; a law on the books is much harder to be rid of than a proposed law. We are fighting a revolution whether we know it or not. Our collective apathy and silence regarding these issues will only serve to tighten our shackles in years to come. We are the main contributors to our own persecution, and this will not change in the foreseeable future. As difficult as it is to educate lawmakers in the fundamentals of technology and the adverse effects of ignorant legislation, it’s harder to convince the average citizen that these issues are worth their attention. There are many distractions available to draw the minds of the masses to seemingly more pressing concerns, while in the back room we lose the ability to exist as we have, and the ability to chose what we will become as Americans and as human beings.