Transcripts

What Good Can Come of Keeping Internet Records Longer?

PAUL KANGAS: Law enforcement officials and Internet company executives met in Washington, DC, today, in hopes of hashing out a deal on access to Internet records. The Justice Department and the FBI want Internet service providers to keep customer records longer. As Stephanie Dhue reports, they say they need access to those records to fight pornography and terrorism.

STEPHANIE DHUE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Internet companies already keep track of instant messages, e-mails and web site visits. Now the Justice Department and the FBI want companies to hold on to those records longer. The Justice Department says it would help in child exploitation cases.

RACHEL BRAND, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: Law enforcement can sometimes get to a point where they can tell what IP address is associated with the computer being used. But they then need to know what person is using that computer, what person is abusing that child ongoing and law enforcement has to be able to go and find that information so they can go find that person and get that child out of that situation.

DHUE: AOL, Comcast, Google, Microsoft and Verizon are among the companies in talks with the government about retaining their records. None of the companies would speak on camera although all expressed support for law enforcement. In a statement, Google said any proposals related to data require careful review and must balance the legitimate interests of individual users, law enforcement agencies and Internet companies. Industry representative Ed Black says law enforcement requests should be narrowly targeted.

EDWARD BLACK, PRESIDENT, COMPUTER & COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION: You don`t want them to blow up a building because somebody threw a rock at a policeman. You don`t want them to monitor trillions of communications because there are a few people who will abuse individual components of that communications system.

DHUE: If the companies don`t voluntarily keep records longer, the Justice Department may ask Congress to make it a requirement. But revelations of domestic surveillance of telephone calls, breeches of security at the Veterans Department and the FBI raid on Congressman William Jefferson`s office have outraged many lawmakers. Experts say it may also make it easier for companies to say no.

MICHAEL VATIS, ATTORNEY, STEPTOE & JOHNSON, LLP: This gives the companies probably a little more backbone, a little more leverage to resist the government`s entreaties and to say, if you want this, you need go to the Hill and we`ll oppose this, unless you at least provide for government reimbursement of our storage costs.

DHUE: And it`s not just the direct costs of increased record keeping that has companies worried. They`re worried about losing customers who don`t want the government monitoring their Internet habits. Stephanie Dhue, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.