Blackmoor Vituperative

It’s official: “it’s to fight terrorism” has replaced “it’s for the children” as the one-size-fits-all excuse for any abuse of power the US government wants to get away with.

In a radical departure from earlier statements, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has said that requiring Internet service providers to save records of their customers’ online activities is necessary in the fight against terrorism, CNET News.com has learned.

Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller privately met with representatives of AOL, Comcast, Google, Microsoft and Verizon last week and said that Internet providers — and perhaps search engines — must retain data for two years to aid in anti-terrorism prosecutions, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussion who spoke on condition of anonymity on Tuesday.

“We want this for terrorism,” Gonzales said, according to one person familiar with the discussion.

Gonzales’ earlier position had only emphasized how mandatory data retention would help thwart child exploitation.

In a speech last month at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Gonzales said that Internet providers must retain records to aid investigations of criminals “abusing kids and sending images of the abuse around the world through the Internet.”

(from CNet, Terrorism invoked in ISP snooping proposal)

I suspect that a few years from now, we’ll look back on the days of “it’s for the children” with fond nostalgia.