KGB successor said to penetrate Internet
Copyright 2000 Nando Media
Copyright 2000 Associated Press
By SERGEI SHARGORODSKY
MOSCOW (February 21, 2000 9:07 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - The KGB's successor is now also spying on the Internet, raising fears that the information it collects could be used for blackmail and business espionage.
"The whole Federal Security Service will be crying tomorrow over your love letters," warns one of the banners angry Russian Web designers have posted on the Internet.
Russian human-rights and free-speech advocates say the security service has already forced many of the country's 350 Internet service providers to install surveillance equipment.
"Most Internet providers in Moscow, including all the large providers and many in the provinces, have opened a hole" for security agents to peep at trafc, said Anatoly Levenchuk, a Russian Internet expert.
Like its counterparts in other countries, the Federal Security Service may argue it needs the monitoring system to catch spies, terrorists and bandits, and to combat black-market businesses and capital ight.
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[Note from Matt: Hmmm, doesn't that last sentence have a familiar ring to it? During previous appearances on Capitol Hill, Freeh has warned of drug smugglers, child pornographers, spies, and terrorists cloaking their communications with impunity. ]