FC: TIPS informaant program: On hold or already underway?

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Tue Aug 13 2002 - 20:55:41 PDT

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    Let's get the chronology right. The Sydney Morning Herald publicized the 
    TIPS informant plan one month ago:
    http://www.politechbot.com/p-03749.html
    
    Then came the odd Salon report about America's Most Wanted 
    (http://www.politechbot.com/p-03861.html), a suggestion last week that it 
    was mistaken (http://www.politechbot.com/p-03867.html), and a possible 
    explanation (http://www.politechbot.com/p-03879.html).
    
    A top Justice Department official defended TIPS ("We're not looking for a 
    community of snoops") in a presentation to the American Bar Association 
    annual confab over the weekend:
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-1939951,00.html
    
    And the Associated Press reported that, because of the controversy, TIPS 
    "will not be put into effect until Congress returns in September. The idea 
    is to allow time for consultation with lawmakers." See:
    http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/08/10/operation.tips.ap/index.html
    
    But an anonymous Politechnical forwards an article that says otherwise. The 
    Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the component of the TIPS program aimed 
    at truckers is going forward as scheduled, saying that "2,000 truckers 
    nationwide are authorized to report activity to a toll-free number..." See:
    http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/3830417.htm
    
    So which is it? Is TIPS on hold or not? Or is the "Highway Watch" program 
    technically unrelated, though practically very, and dangerously, similar?
    
    -Declan
    
    
    
    
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