http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5973735.html?tag=zdfd.newsfeed
Commentary--If you believe President Bush, a "cybercrime" treaty about to be voted on by the U.S. Senate is needed to thwart online vandals and track down Internet miscreants.
Bush claims the treaty, formally approved by a Senate committee this month, will "deny safe havens to criminals, including terrorists, who can cause damage to U.S. interests from abroad, using computer systems."
But in reality, the Convention on Cybercrime will endanger Americans' privacy and civil liberties--and place the FBI's massive surveillance apparatus at the disposal of nations with much less respect for individual liberties.
For instance, if the U.S. and Russia ratify it, President Vladimir Putin would be able to invoke the treaty's powers to unmask anonymous critics on U.S.-based Web sites and perhaps even snoop on their e-mail correspondence. This is no theoretical quibble: The onetime KGB apparatchik has squelched freedom of speech inside Russia and regularly muzzles journalists and critics. Article has more.
I hope Freedom of Speech is not infringed on. There are good reasons for this and bad ones. Let's hope nobody exploits the bad ones, though human nature has shown that by giving someone an inch, they will take a yard in return.