Justice Department Casts A Wide Net For Information

Subpoenas obtained through the Freedom of Information Act indicate that the U.S. Justice Department is seeking Internet usage data from at least 35 companies in its efforts to defend the 1996 Child Online Protection Act (COPA) against court challenges. One of the subpoenas sparked a legal showdown between the government and Google, which challenged the request for millions of records of Internet searches. In that case, the government significantly scaled back its request, which the judge ruled was allowable. Other companies that received similar subpoenas are Comcast, EarthLink, AT&T, Cox Communications, Verizon Communications, Symantec, and other makers of computer security products. The Supreme Court has ruled twice that COPA is likely unconstitutional, and the government will go to trial in October to defend it. David McGuire, spokesman for the Center for Democracy and Technology, expressed concerns echoed by other critics that the government is seeking large amounts of information to defend a questionable law.

Associated Press, 30 March 2006