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US Authorities Pressure ISP Companies

Internet service providers are being forced by U.S. authorities to keep track over their internet users. The attorney general and the FBI director have asked leading ISP companies to store a variety of customer information on their servers for a period of two years. Right now different companies have different policies regarding users` information and the time that it is stored on their servers.

One of the things that the Justice Department is asking Internet service providers to store is a user`s Internet address. Each user is assigned with an Internet address when he or she logs on to a service provider. The United States Justice Department now asks all ISP to store that information for a period of two years. The online industry is not happy with the news, and issues of users` privacy will soon rise.

"It is a slippery slope," one of the sources said of the government`s interest in the information. "It becomes a fishing expedition." The online industry argues that there are different ways of getting the information rather than asking them for it, and that this new regulation will become a burden over the industry. Users will feel that their privacy is invaded and will discontinue their relationships with the companies.