PATRIOT ACT

Patriot Act

Patriot Act

Legislative Process USA Patriot Act

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America, Congress and the President acted swiftly to pass new legislation to make it easier for federal, state, and local law enforcement to investigate and avert suspected acts of terrorism. Patriot Act of 2001 (PATRIOT Act, or “the Act”).1 As indicated by its short title — “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” — the PATRIOT Act was promulgated with the Paramount goal of seriously enhancing the ability of America's intelligence and law enforcement communities to proactively prevent terrorism. True to its aim, the Act I provide literally scores of amendments to existing federal statutes, all of which, to varying degrees, remove obstacles to investigating terrorist acts and acts related to or in furtherance of terrorism (Pike, 2004).

At the same time, the PATRIOT Act's broad amendments present a number of new concerns for all businesses operating in the Internet age. As critical financial and technological infrastructures continue to serve legitimate and illicit needs — from legitimately driving America's struggling economy to unwittingly serving as the platforms for illegal international money laundering by terrorists and their sympathizers — business owners face the threat of a “dragnet” approach to surveillance and investigation of suspected terrorists and terrorism. To ensure they are prepared to withstand the tightrope walk of balancing overwhelming national security concerns with their own network integrity and privacy issues, all businesses that rely in any way on computers should understand the full implications of the Act (Schneider, 2002).

Patriot Act of 2001

The Act contains a number of specific amendments to existing criminal laws and enabling statutes, all of which are designed to streamline early detection and investigation of suspected terrorist activity. The following is a summary of those provisions of the new law most pertinent to network security and privacy concerns. Electronic Surveillance Title I of the PATRIOT Act directs the head of the U.S.

The main thrust of this initiative is the prevention, detection, and investigation of various forms of electronic crimes, especially potential terrorist attacks against critical technological infrastructures and financial systems. Along with its increased focus on eliminating cyber-terrorism, Congress significantly increased funding for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Technical Support Center (TSC), which provides computer and related technological support for the Bureau's tactical operations against terrorism.

The PATRIOT Act authorizes the appropriation of $200 million to the TSC for each of the fiscal years 2002 through 2004. Such appropriations are in addition to the new “Counterterrorism Fund,” created with a broad mandate to reimburse any federal government expenditures incurred in the course of investigating, prosecuting, or counteracting domestic or international terrorism. Finally, under Title I, the Act broadens presidential authority under the International Emergency Powers Act, enabling the federal government to seize the property of any foreign person, organization, or country that the President determines was used to plan, authorize, aid, or engage in armed hostilities or attacks against the United ...