The first amendment is intended to protect our freedom of speech, among other things. That right is on of the most essential in America, and violating it, although many on the Supreme Court might disagree, is illegal. Now the Bush administration has found a way around this inconvenient part of our law system: using someone else's law system.
In 2003, George Bush signed the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention, or Cybercrime Treaty, which requires that signatories aid each other in investigating and/or prosecuting for breaking the first country's laws, regardless of the rights guaranteed in the assisting nation. According to an an article by the ACLU, the senate has now ratified it. Thus, the FBI may investigate an American for a cyber-related occurrence that is protected under the Bill of Rights, because another country might not protect that right. Some signing nations are emerging democracies, and may not have the same protections as the US, such as Ukraine and Bulgaria.
In some ways, this should be a huge issue that the senate would now feel ashamed of ratifying, but in other ways our first amendment rights have been taken since they were created.
Tags: Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, First Amendment, Free Speech, Cybercrime Treaty, Internet, Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention
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