C.I.A. Venture Capital, The Internet And You

In-Q-Tel's multiple investments spread across a wide range of technology companies.

Click below for the secret message!

I have a myspace page for music, a couple of photo site accounts and this blog, so my internet privacy is already hopelessly compromised. I made these choices knowing big-brother style monitoring - either for commercial/marketing gain or something more devious - was going on. But I’ve refrained from joining Facebook or any other social networking sites.

Aside from being basically anti-social, it's knowing that Congress - via the Patriot Act - gave up so many citizen privacy protections that tells me to keep a low profile. That doesn't seem to bother millions of Americans, though. That's why this recent press release was an attention-grabber.

Visible Technologies - a “social media monitoring” company - has joined up with In-Q-Tel to “listen” to consumers across a broad range of internet social networks. From the attached press release, highlights are mine:

“In-Q-Tel is the not-for-profit, strategic investment firm that works to identify, adapt, and deliver innovative technology solutions to support the mission of the U.S. Intelligence Community. Launched by the CIA in 1999 as a private, independent organization, In-Q-Tel’s mission is to identify and partner with companies developing cutting-edge technologies that serve the national security interests of the United States.”
http://es-es.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=161002463047&comments&ref=mf

Our tax dollars at work – spying on us! If you've got a good surveillance idea, the C.I.A.'s In-Q-Tel has got the start-up dough! I know Facebook has a pretty wide-ranging “we can do what we want with your stuff for as long as we want, and give/sell your info to pretty much anybody - especially law enforcement” terms of service agreement – I don’t know much about any others. but all that fine print detail is just a few clicks away on the internet.

Myself, I think I’ll preserve whatever privacy I have left from the CIA’s investment firm as best I can. Although who's to say this blog entry isn't being read by deeply-hidden lurkers right now?

Here is the Visible Technologies website:
http://www.visibletechnologies.com/

Here is the In-Q-Tel website – I enjoyed the FAQ section on “Submitting A Business Plan” – hey, the CIA’s got unlimited venture capital:
http://www.iqt.org/

And two items in the “just for grins” department:

ISS: Intelligence Support Systems for Lawful Interception, Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Gathering
Check out this online security company’s conference agenda from last month. Clicking into the specific program topics is an eye-opening experience. While much of what’s being discussed here is lawful – meaning we’ve allowed the creation of laws to enable this sort of electronic monitoring – the scale is troubling. Not to mention the ongoing revolving door of lawmaking, policing, and surveillance/security equipment private enterprise that financially enriches all its participants.
http://www.issworldtraining.com/ISS_WASH/

And here's an ISS tidbit that just dropped: Sprint fielded 8 million law enforcement information requests over the last year!
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/12/surveillance-shocker-sprint-received-8-million-law

And the Department of Defense is staging an internet treasure hunt! Only it’s not all fun and games :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/dec/04/darpa-balloon-challenge

ACTA - More Control Over The Internet?

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is an international treaty proposing global regulations on internet content, with a specific emphasis on new enforcement mechanisms pertaining to copyrighted materials. This has been a little under the radar for many (including myself), but there are lots of documents available on the web with info.

This is a news flash coming out of the latest round of apparently closed-door negotiations taking place in Seoul, South Korea this week. Was it just the opening salvo when music conglomerates started suing moms and college students for downloading? According to this article from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, it’s the punitive model of “three strikes and you’re out” for copyright infringement - to be enforced by internet providers:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/11/leaked-acta-internet-provisions-three-strikes-and

EFF filed suit against the government, asking for release of papers/documents pertaining to US participation in ACTA – the Obama Administration cited “national security” concerns as the reason to deny public distribution, the judge ruled in the government’s favor and the lawsuit died:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/06/17

This May 2008 article from Intellectual Property Watch details some of the criticism of ACTA provisions from other countries:
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2008/05/30/embattled-acta-negotiations-next-week-in-geneva-us-sees-signing-this-year/

From the Wiki article on ACTA: “Critics argue ACTA is part of a broader strategy of venue shopping and policy laundering employed by the trade representatives of the US, EC, Japan, and other supporters of rigid intellectual property enforcement. This strategy entails negotiating for terms in international treaties that might prove too politically unpopular to pass in national assemblies.”

"National security" and seeking out ways to circumvent legislators - what a world. I cannot predict how the U.S. Senate might vote on an ACTA treaty as outlined today. But given that august body's history on bowing down to corporate money, rest assured that it will take a concerted public effort to make sure any fairness in analysis is achieved.