FBI brands internet privacy as terrorism.

[TheOneBearded]

By acting this way, the USA is showing that the terrorists are winning seeing that their job is to terrorize its citizens.

 

[Hawk of Battle]

This is starting to get to McCarthy levels of witch hunting now. Did america not learn anything from the cold war?

 

[TheNaut131]

Welp, I'll just leave this here.

 

[AngloDoom]

...Thus confirming my belief that 'terrorist' holds much the same status as the word 'paedophile' did a decade ago, and the word 'witch' did centuries prior to that.

All I can be reminded of is Pavlov's dogs - every time the 'terrorist' bell rings, people come running, salivating about the next potential terrorist they can help be the big hero with and get arrested.

From an outside perspective- the US is starting to get a bit nutty.

 

[Flailing Escapist]

Damn, no more violent porn for me. I suppose I should stop google-ing how to make my own fireworks too.

 

[M4t3us]

Did any of you actually read the flyer? The amount of misrepresentation and hyperbole in this thread is more than a little amusing. The flyer itself is just talking about common sense supsicious activity, but most of the people in this thread have taken it and blown it way out of proportion. You know, way out of proportion like the idiots on Fox news do.

Not sure if literate.

Sorry, but they didn't brand internet privacy as terrorism. They indicated that in an internet cafe, overt concern about privacy (in this public setting) might be an indicator of suspicious activity.

Of course, if your intent was merely to rile people up, you succeeded. If you legitimately believe this, though, I am seriously concerned about your comprehension skills.

Oh no, I did understand what the flyer is meant to do and I can somewhat see the implications and need for such awareness, thing is: at a time when they fail to put up a bill that'd censor the w.w.w. they start lashing out, first Megaupload, now this... If it had come at any other time, I probably wouldn't have cared, now I just played the obvious troll...

On that note, I do pretty much of everything in that flyer when I'm in public with my PC and I'm not plotting anything, just being savvy about my privacy as much as possible. And according to that same flyer, I could very well be a terrorist. And yes... I suppose I posted this to "rile people up", you know, raise some awareness of my own as to how the Federal Bureau of Investigation sees our day to day activities.

 

[DarthFennec]

... wow.
If this is what the FBI looks for when searching for terrorism I'm pretty much fearing for my life right now ...

So it hasn't occurred to them that people might like to have privacy just for the sake of privacy? Next thing we know, taking a shit with the bathroom door closed is going to be considered suspicious behavior ...

"- Terrorist/Revolutionary Literature" ... yeah well, I'm not a terrorist, but after reading this shit, revolution doesn't sound like such a bad idea :\

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Not world ending, but DEFINITELY a step in the wrong direction. Call me paranoid, but this sounds like it is leading to a ban on proxies and encryption.

Oh well. The FBI hasn't been credible in a very long time, so hopefully no cafe owners will be dumb enough to actually try and enforce this.

And besides, fuck off FBI, I'm behind 7 proxies...

 

[IamQ]

Get your USB's people, and fill them up. Soon, nothings gonna remain online.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

If they keep this up, they're gonna have an Internet version of Bin Laden somewhere down the line.

It's time to replace the US government. It is incurably rotten from within now.

 

[Dogstile]

Using another users handy quotes!

Are overly concerned about privacy, attempts to shield the screen from view of
others
 Always pay cash or use credit card(s) in different name(s)
 Apparently use tradecraft: lookout, blocker or someone to distract employees
 Act nervous or suspicious behavior inconsistent with activities
 Are observed switching SIM cards in cell phone or use of multiple cell phones
 Travel illogical distance to use Internet Café

I always use cash and I use family phones, not just my own. This also screws anyone who has a separate work and personal phone! Woo!

 Evidence of a residential based internet provider (signs on to Comcast, AOL,
etc.)
 Use of anonymizers, portals, or other means to shield IP address
 Suspicious or coded writings, use of code word sheets, cryptic ledgers, etc.
 Encryption or use of software to hide encrypted data in digital photos, etc.
 Suspicious communications using VOIP or communicating through a PC game

Well, shielding IP address's is something I did for fun this year (computing student).
Code sheets are a little hobby of mine with friends, so i'm assuming that's quite suspocious
Encryption i'll be messing with next year, so three! This is going well.

 Download content of extreme/radical nature with violent themes
 Gather information about vulnerable infrastructure or obtain photos, maps or
diagrams of transportation, sporting venues, or populated locations
 Purchase chemicals, acids, hydrogen peroxide, acetone, fertilizer, etc.
 Download or transfer files with ?how-to? content such as:
- Content of extreme/radical nature with violent themes
- Anarchist Cookbook, explosives or weapons information
- Military tactics, equipment manuals, chemical or biological information
- Terrorist/revolutionary literature
- Preoccupation with press coverage of terrorist attacks
- Defensive tactics, police or government information
- Information about timers, electronics, or remote transmitters / receivers

This should be a fun one.

Download content of extreme/radical nature with violent content? Lets hope the SAW films and the human centipede don't come under this one

Gather information about areas? Google maps is another thing me and my friends use. We've actually found ourselves a few times. Was pretty cool.

Military tactics, equipment manuals? I eat that shit up. I love reading up on current military affairs, doesn't bode well for me. This also comes under defensive tactics. I also studied up on SWAT after watching a SWAT 4 lets play (<3 spoony) so thats me suspicious.

Electronics? Oh dear, computing course...

That was actually quite fun, I imagine i'd be quite the fun individual to watch if I was in the FBI. Glad i'm in the UK. Most of it is, as has been said, common sense, but some of these are pretty "WTF".

 

[Tiger Sora]

I'm a terrorist now. I feel so included and necessary. Boy does it feel good to have a billion other like minded people supporting what I do. >.>

Anyways holy flaming muffins America really is a complete police state now, well I knew that already. They're just more so now. Every word they say is hypocrisy. What are we gona do with you America.

Also, I think this site may now be labeled as a terrorist website, along with every other site on the web. So since everything is terrorist affiliated now, including America.... does that mean America has lost the war on terror?

 

[JonnWood]

The fact that these are compiled from actual terrorist actions, and the fact the flyer specifically says the actions have to be judged in context by LEOs just flew right over everyone's heads, eh?

This isn't invasion of privacy. This is plain sight discovery, in a public place, by members of the public. Most importantly, the employees are under no legal compulsion to call the FBI if they see people doing any of this. These are merely suggestions, not the first step on the road to a police state.

 

[Sarah Frazier]

By far throughout the entirety of the article I find this statement the most, uhhhh, endearing. Viewing any content related to ?military tactics? including manuals or ?revolutionary literature? is also considered a potential indicator of terrorist activity. Next thing you know they just might start burning books to keep ideas out of peoples heads.

Now I absolutely must ask... Does Warhammer 40K count as "Military Tactics" or "Revolutionary Material" or could it possibly be construed as such? If so, I'm definitely screwed. Or any tabletop war game, for that matter.

OT: This is utter bullshit. What constitutional right will be taken away next? We already can't freely assemble, without first getting permission ahead of time and even then it can be dispersed by police if they don't like something. The people can still vote for whoever they want in power, but we've seen how enough whining and talk of technicalities can overrule actual votes to get someone into office who didn't really deserve it. And now we're steadily losing the right to keeping our affairs private because someone, somewhere, MAY be up to no good.

Why must I be too poor to move out of this place?

 

[Richard Keohane]

I would like to point out that this is not what you do on your private computer. This is what you do on someone else's computer at an internet cafe, and this list is reasonable. Consider that there are good reasons for doing all of these on your own computer, but far, far fewer reasons to do them on a computer not associated with you unless you're doing something illegal and don't want to leave a trail.

 

[Zen Toombs]

I would like to point out that this is not what you do on your private computer. This is what you do on someone else's computer at an internet cafe, and this list is reasonable. Consider that there are good reasons for doing all of these on your own computer, but far, far fewer reasons to do them on a computer not associated with you unless you're doing something illegal and don't want to leave a trail.

But as an American citizen one doesn't (and shouldn't) need to a reason to want privacy. And the government should not infringe upon our privacy without a strong reason.

[small]Protip: I just don't like the look of him is not a strong reason.[/small]

 

[FalloutJack]

Oh, fucking hell. Not THIS SHIT again...

I thought we woke up from our herp-a-la-derpy-derp 'War On Terror' head-trip already. It wasn't bad enough that terrorism becomes the new Red Scare with them looking under everyone's bed for little men in turbins, but now we just outright accuse anyone at all (including, you know, American citizens) of terrorism? How shall I put this?

You KNOW what I mean.

The FBI, as a whole, can go to hell. As much as SOPA or any of its similar miscreants are bad ideas, this is about as stupid and wrong. The IQ of the entire DC area just dropped by playing the terrorism card. No, you idiots! People that actually do DAMAGE to things are terrorists. People who sadistically carry out schemes to make life horrible are terrorists. People who look for freebies on the internet are hunting for truffles by comparison.

Oh, why am I bothering? They don't know how to handle terrorism either. They think they can hunt down and crush an ideal like it's a person. And now, they want to point fingers at everyone like shooting into a crowd with an assault rifle. Yeah, that's gonna work out FINE for them. There's going to be blood if they keep this up. I can taste it.

 

[Lunar Templar]

-.- .....

yeah ....

i feel REAL safe with these guys on the job if they don't even know what a terrorist is anymore

 

[WeAreStevo]

It all makes sense now! I can see how by illegally downloading Metallica, several internet "pirates" have found equal footing to those who car bomb a mosque or who invade two countries as a reactionary tactic based on the actions of a handful of those countries nationals...

Oh FBI, you so funny!

 

[waj9876]

I love how everyone is ignoring common sense, and the few people that have actually read the damn thing, and are just jumping right onto the "UNITED STATES BAD! WE HATE YOU FOR THINGS THAT DON'T AFFECT US!" bandwagon. Seriously, at least with SOPA there was good reason to be angry. Our government was trying to reach more than they should be able to. But with this...

This is our own mess that affects only us. It's not a law, rule, or even an agreement like so many people seem to think. It's just a suggestion for internet cafe owners and the like based on what actual terrorists have done. They aren't even obligated to report anything. Just if it seems suspicious to them. Not to the FBI, to the everyday people.

Why don't any of you guys realize WE FUCKING HATE OUR GOVERNMENT TOO!? Seriously, all this "America does things that don't affect us so we hate them!" stuff is getting old. Also, why you gotta hate on Canada? Oh, and Mexico? Sure they've got a bit of a drug cartel problem...But they make TACOS! Who could stay mad at that? (Is referring to the fact that America isn't just the United States. There is a North America and South America. The United States is located entirely in the continent of North America.)