Does the following scare anyone but me? Why is this on the Russian news, but not a word over here? This seems to be covered under ACTA. Seems Obama is following in Bush's footsteps. Just what I would have expected.

YouTube - Obama passing new law to allow searching of PC's, Laptops, and media devices

The article noted that the act was to have been approved last year, but that negotiations are still underway. That doesn't make it an Obama initiative, but rather yet another Bush attack on basic civil liberties (illegal search and seizure). However, search without cause (i.e., without due process) is a line beyond which few Americans would allow the government to cross. It seems clear to me the costs in this case would vastly outweigh the gains. I'll reserve judgment until I hear from the man himself. --Steve--

Looking into the Act on the net it seems Obama is running with it. On March 10th of this year, the US Government refused to disclose the text of this legislation through FOIA requests, citing National security. It seems the Obama administration is keeping it a secret and seems to be pushing forward. I see no difference yet between Obama and Bush except that Obama is willing to plunge us farther in debt to give us Big Brother.

Here's a recent article:
Intellectual Property Watch » Blog Archive » US Wrestles With Transparency As Europeans Urge Release Of ACTA Texts

Thanks for the link. However, I don't read the article the same way you do. For example, the article pointed out the USTR refused to release the requested documents citing national interest concerns. But that was before the new USTR Ron Kirk was sworn in, and before Obama issued some clarification:
I mean, this clarification and change in direction issued from Obama came what, within 60 days of his taking office, and only two weeks after the new USTR (Obama's appointee) was sworn in. That's not bad. Of course it remains to be seen what the agreement will allow governments to do. We'll soon see. --Steve--

No, I can't agree with you here. The Obama administration has even dealt with the possibility of possibly bringing up criminal charges against those in the Bush administration who authorized both torture and, what most agree, was unconstitutional domestic wire-tapping.

As far as the debt is concerned, Obama is using Keynesian economics, which has a proven record of helping countries to get out of recessions and the Great Depression, and that approach involves spending-- and a lot of it. Is it inflationary? Yes it is, but that's part of the solution. Will it raise taxes in the future? Of course it will. But what's the alternative?

It has to be dealt with. All this does is delay the inevitable. Time to crash and burn. Better now than later.

Obama talks a good game, but his record is not what he says it is. The fact remains that it is under HIS watch that these FOIA requests are being denied for "national security" reasons. He says on TV he will do something about this, but his actions dictate otherwise, just as they did during his tenure as a Senator.

But we may be able to avoid a really gnarly "crash and burn" and, as a matter of fact, there are some promising signs which Wall Street obviously has noticed. However, we're very far from being out of the woods. I don't think we can stop the downturn right away, and it's effects will linger for many years. If Bush and Obama had ignored the economists warnings that the administrations must come forth with both loans and bailouts, they warned that we could slip into a worse depression than the Great Depression.

Gotta go for now-- lunch!

I do find this a bit scary, but I do have to ask how much is media hype to increase viewership.

I would agree except: It's not on the news!!!! This is coming from European news sources - no where at all over here, and over there, it is very limited stories. THAT is even more scary to me. We know Bush and friends suppressed the media. I guess it's same old same old all over again. Any politician who actually is capable of getting the job of President is more than likely not worthy of it.

First of all such kind of laws are against the concept of democracy and the freedom of expression will be under control. When a person is not allowed to communicate or express him or herself freely whether he or she is trying to express through internet chat,verbal or written ,it is the best violation of democracy. It is a control over the most important aspect of your life.

I am pretty sure that Ecommerce,online businesses and private chats between spouses,boy and girl friends will also be effected by this law.


The question is that what excuse will the US govt officials will use to justify this law on computers,laptops and media devices? I am pretty sure they can't use "War against Terror" as a justification since according to US officials claim ,the terrorists are hidding in East not in West.


I could understand why the Russian News is showing all this ,the Russians have a deep concern over the US foreign policies since both Countries have problem with each other ,so why would Russia be happy with the IT laws introduced by US Officials especially introduced in US and Europe?