FBI, Privacy and ISPs

October2006
FBI director wants ISPs to track users.
FBI Director Robert Mueller on Tuesday, October 17, called on Internet service providers (ISPs) to record their customers' online activities, a move that anticipates a fierce debate over privacy and law enforcement in Washington next year. "Terrorists coordinate their plans cloaked in the anonymity of the Internet, as do violent sexual predators prowling chat rooms," Mueller said in a speech at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Boston. Law enforcement groups claim that by the time they contact ISPs, customers' records may have been deleted in the routine course of business. Industry representatives, however, say that if police respond to tips promptly instead of dawdling, it would be difficult to imagine any investigation that would be imperiled. It's not clear exactly what a data retention law would require. One proposal would go beyond Internet providers and require registrars, the companies that sell domain names, to maintain records too.
Source: http://news.com.com/FBI+director+wants+ISPs+to+track+users/2100−7348_3−6126877.html