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FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2002

New rules the Department of Justice instituted yesterday give free reign for FBI agents to surf Internet web sites.

Previously, agents were prohibited from going online unless the work was connected with a specific criminal investigation. Attorney General John Ashcroft said the new guidelines would allow the FBI to be proactive instead of reactive.

Civil liberties groups charged that the changes were a return to the 1960s and 1970s, when the FBI spied on domestic political groups including the American Indian Movement. According to a New York Times analysis, though, a legal challenge to the new rules probably wouldn't succeed, based on a 1972 Supreme Court decision.

Get the Story:
Ashcroft: Old Rules Aided Terrorists (The Washington Post 5/31)
Ashcroft Permits F.B.I. to Monitor Internet and Public Activities (The New York Times 5/31)
Rules That Limited F.B.I. Domestic Spying Were Rooted in Earlier Era, Not in Law (The New York Times 5/31)
Username: indianz.com, Password: indianz.com

Relevant Documents:
Ashcroft Remarks | Ashcroft Video | DOJ Factsheet on Domestic Spying Guidelines

Relevant Links:
FBI - http://www.fbi.gov

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