On November 9, the grand coalition approved the draft law for the introduction of data retention in Germany. Next, the Bundesrat will take a position on it, and subsequently, the Federal President will decide whether to sign the law. This will pave the way for telecommunications providers and internet service providers to be required to store telephone connections, internet connections, email traffic, faxes, and SMS messages for a duration of six months "in reserve" starting January 1, 2008. These data must be made available to law enforcement agencies upon request.
How far surveillance has already gone had to be experienced firsthand by the band Mono für Alle. Due to the lyrics of their song "Hallo Verfassungsschutz", they once attracted the attention of the Bavarian state security, which demanded the removal of the lyrics from the group's homepage. Now, Mono für Alle reports that the public prosecutors' offices in Stuttgart (remember their fight against the crossed-out swastikas) and Gießen have been investigating them for nearly a year due to the song "Amoklauf". Accordingly, the state security assigned to the case is said to have observed the band members' surroundings, searched school records, and contacted concert organizers. All of this allegedly happened without the knowledge of the band members, who claim to have only recently learned about the investigations due to inquiries in their environment. According to the authorities' investigation file, the title must be seen in connection with school shootings. Even a "guide to criminal offenses" according to paragraph 130a of the German Penal Code is being assumed. The entire article can be read in the Heise Online News Ticker.
Also, p-u-n-k.de will be affected by the law next year. Thus, in addition to the logs of our host, information about visitors must be stored and provided upon request, especially for the free email service. So far, this has not been done, and anonymous registration is explicitly allowed. This would no longer be possible. Even Google is considering shutting down its free email service Gmail if the law actually comes into effect.
To prevent this nightmare vision, a constitutional complaint against data retention is to be filed. For this, as many supporters as possible are needed to participate. All adult German citizens are therefore called upon to participate in the constitutional complaint. There are no costs involved, so one can only gain - freedom from total surveillance.
How far surveillance has already gone had to be experienced firsthand by the band Mono für Alle. Due to the lyrics of their song "Hallo Verfassungsschutz", they once attracted the attention of the Bavarian state security, which demanded the removal of the lyrics from the group's homepage. Now, Mono für Alle reports that the public prosecutors' offices in Stuttgart (remember their fight against the crossed-out swastikas) and Gießen have been investigating them for nearly a year due to the song "Amoklauf". Accordingly, the state security assigned to the case is said to have observed the band members' surroundings, searched school records, and contacted concert organizers. All of this allegedly happened without the knowledge of the band members, who claim to have only recently learned about the investigations due to inquiries in their environment. According to the authorities' investigation file, the title must be seen in connection with school shootings. Even a "guide to criminal offenses" according to paragraph 130a of the German Penal Code is being assumed. The entire article can be read in the Heise Online News Ticker.
Also, p-u-n-k.de will be affected by the law next year. Thus, in addition to the logs of our host, information about visitors must be stored and provided upon request, especially for the free email service. So far, this has not been done, and anonymous registration is explicitly allowed. This would no longer be possible. Even Google is considering shutting down its free email service Gmail if the law actually comes into effect.
To prevent this nightmare vision, a constitutional complaint against data retention is to be filed. For this, as many supporters as possible are needed to participate. All adult German citizens are therefore called upon to participate in the constitutional complaint. There are no costs involved, so one can only gain - freedom from total surveillance.
