The Clinton Administration wants to broaden the reach of law enforcement officers on the Internet by updating wiretapping laws, while also offering some new privacy protections for electronic communications.

A White House official said the proposed legislation -- expected to be introduced to Congress within the next two weeks -- should end confusion about the amount of legal protection required for various forms of communication, the Washington Post reports.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who sponsored an Internet privacy bill, said he welcomes the chance to work with the White House to help balance the privacy rights of Americans with the efforts of law enforcement agencies. But civil liberties advocates don't approve the proposals, the Post reports.

Barry Steinhardt, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union, found the proposal "deeply disappointing."

The ACLU is an opponent of new surveillance technology known as "Carnivore" being used by law enforcement officials. The program, which would still be permitted under the proposal, gives authorities the ability monitor individual Internet traffic and the content of e-mail files on an Internet service provider (ISP) network once it is installed, much like telephone wiretapping technology, the newspaper reports.

William Schrader -- chief executive and chairman of PSINet, one of the world's largest ISPs -- said he would not permit the government to use Carnivore on his network unless it could prove the program would only be used to sift out a targeted individual, rather than monitoring the e-mail messages of every PSINet user, the New York Times reports.

"I object to American citizens and any citizens of the world always being subject to someone monitoring their e-mail," Mr. Schrader, whose company serves more than 10 million users and about 100,000 businesses, told the Times. "I believe it's unconstitutional and I'll wait for the Supreme Court to force me to do it."

In 1968, the Crime Patrol and Safe Streets Act required a court order and Justice Department approval before a telephone conversation could be tapped. In 1986, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act implemented similar restrictions on e-mail. Cable companies are concerned that the 1986 law may not cover e-mail sent through high-speed cable modems and argue the 1984 Cable Act gives their users protection from government surveillance, the newspaper reports.

The Clinton Administration's proposal applies to communications that either end or begin in the United States and would not apply to any e-mail messages transmitted completely outside the country, the New York Times reports.

Full text of the article is currently found at:
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
articles/A57330-2000Jul17.html