Techdirt. Stories filed under "ndaa" Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us Techdirt. Stories filed under "ndaa"http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Tue, 8 May 2012 13:33:31 PDT Congress To Amend NDAA To Give DoD & NSA Greater 'Cyberwar' Powers Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120508/12553818834/congress-to-amend-ndaa-to-give-dod-nsa-greater-cyberwar-powers.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120508/12553818834/congress-to-amend-ndaa-to-give-dod-nsa-greater-cyberwar-powers.shtml
Here's the existing text:
SEC. 954. MILITARY ACTIVITIES IN CYBERSPACE.

Congress affirms that the Department of Defense has the capability, and upon direction by the President may conduct offensive operations in cyberspace to defend our Nation, Allies and interests, subject to—
(1) the policy principles and legal regimes that the Department follows for kinetic capabilities, including the law of armed conflict; and

(2) the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.).
However, the House Armed Services Committee is getting ready to do a markup on the NDAA that includes a change to that section (section 954), which expands the powers of the Defense Department, and basically gives it broad powers to conduct any military actions online -- with it specifically calling out clandestine operations online. Here's the text they want to substitute:
SEC. 954. MILITARY ACTIVITIES IN CYBERSPACE.

‘‘(a) AFFIRMATION.—Congress affirms that the Secretary of Defense is authorized to conduct military activities in cyberspace.

‘‘(b) AUTHORITY DESCRIBED.—The authority referred to in subsection (a) includes the authority to carry out a clandestine operation in cyberspace—
‘‘(1) in support of a military operation pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (50 U.S.C. 1541 note; Public Law 107-40) against a target located outside of the United States; or

‘‘(2) to defend against a cyber attack against an asset of the Department of Defense.
‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the Secretary of Defense to conduct military activities in cyberspace.’"
Note a bunch of slightly sneaky things going on here. First, it gives blanket powers to the DoD, rather than saying it can only take actions on the President's direction. While we may not have much faith that the President wouldn't let the DoD do such things, giving such blanket approval upfront, rather than requiring specific direction is a pretty big change.

Second, and perhaps more important, the new language specifically grants the DOD (and the NSA, which is a part of DOD) the power to conduct "clandestine operations." This is (on purpose) left basically undefined. Combine this with the fact that the "Authorization of Use of Military Force" is so broadly defined in the current government, this then grants the DOD/NSA extremely broad powers to conduct "clandestine" operations with little oversight. Related to this is that it removes the restriction that the DOD must take actions that are "subject to the policy principles and legal regimes that the Department follows for kinetic capabilities, including the law of armed conflicts." Instead it lets them use such powers, without these restrictions, against anyone declared an enemy under the AUMF (lots and lots of people) or in any effort to stop a cyberattack against the DOD -- which again you can bet would be defined broadly. This is a pretty big expansion of online "war" powers for the Defense Department, with what appears to be less oversight. And all done while people are looking the other way...

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]]> say-what-now http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20120508/12553818834 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:33:00 PST Will Politicians' Support For Draconian IP Laws While Ignoring Civil Liberties Issues Come Back To Bite Them? Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111229/11551017229/will-politicians-support-draconian-ip-laws-while-ignoring-civil-liberties-issues-come-back-to-bite-them.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111229/11551017229/will-politicians-support-draconian-ip-laws-while-ignoring-civil-liberties-issues-come-back-to-bite-them.shtml politicians were quite eager to pass new draconian intellectual property laws all year, but shied away from anything that involved protecting our civil liberties. Reading through the article, it's a really sad statement over how the past year went from a politics perspective.

Of course, it will be interesting to see the coming backlash over this. We're already seeing the beginning elements of a reaction over SOPA (as well as the massive support for Ron Paul) and 2012 may make for an interesting year. Declan McCullough is wondering if the internet world is ready to "go nuclear" in the effort to stop SOPA/PIPA next year. As with anything, I think that there will be some mistakes made along the way, but as the internet community gets more organized and more vocal, I do wonder if these two trend lines (more draconian IP laws and less civil liberties protections) can really continue to move in the same direction much longer.

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]]> what-happens-next http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20111229/11551017229 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:40:00 PST Reddit Turns Its Attention To Politics: Seeking Supporters Of SOPA & NDAA To Unseat Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111229/10392717226/reddit-turns-its-attention-to-politics-seeking-supporters-sopa-ndaa-to-unseat.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111229/10392717226/reddit-turns-its-attention-to-politics-seeking-supporters-sopa-ndaa-to-unseat.shtml change its position (if not its mind) on SOPA & PIPA, it appears the Reddit community wants to see if it can do the same thing with some politicians. Earlier this week, we had asked who would be the first politician to be "GoDaddy'd" and it appears that the Reddit community has already jumped onto that challenge. It's been rather fascinating to watch over the past few days as the amorphous crowd self-organized and set up its own rules over who to focus on and why. They've decided to focus on politicians who supported both NDAA (the controversial bill that crystallizes the government's ability to detain Americans without trial) and SOPA/PIPA. They also want to pick one politician from each major party, to keep this from being a partisan thing. Separately, they've been seeking out politicians who may actually be vulnerable... and trying to vet their opponents to make sure who gets elected in their place isn't even worse.

So far, the community has focused in on Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee as its main Republican target (there have been a few others listed as well), but doesn't seem to have settled on a Democratic target yet.

I still think that a lot of this will depend heavily on who is challenging these politicians, and if they're willing to make a campaign issue out of these free speech/civil liberties issues. It'll definitely be tough to unseat incumbents, but even if the internet community can make it into an actual fight, politicians will start to take notice. And, even if it fails this time around, watch out for what comes next. Like many "open" systems, the first version may not be pretty, the second version may be a little buggy, but once you get around to the third version and beyond, they often start being a lot more powerful than anyone expects. Politicians who underestimate the community of folks at Reddit and similar sites may be in for a surprise before too long...

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