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Transatlantic Cable: The reaction to 11 September
Our Silicon Valley correspondent Richard Baguley on how the tech sector is dealing with last week's attacks, and how attitudes to net surveillance have changed...

By Richard Baguley

Published: Thursday 20 September 2001

The events of 11 September began for me early in the morning, when my fiancée called me at home (I was off work with a headache) and told me to turn on the TV. "Something bad has happened," she said, and she was right.

Like many other people in California, I watched the seemingly endless repeats of the towers being hit by the airplanes and then collapsing, and like them I felt shock and horror that this could have happened. And like millions of other people when the reality of the situation began to sink in, I wondered what I could do to help.

I'm certainly not alone in this: many high-tech companies have already started to help in a number of ways, by offering both cash for the relief fund and equipment for the people trying to deal with the disaster.

For instance: the US magazine Computerword has been coordinating an effort to help companies who lost their offices in the disaster, and they have been overwhelmed with offers ranging from PCs to free office space.

Videoconferencing companies such as MCSi are also offering free use of their services to help businesses who have lost their offices get back up and running, as well as to people who can't fly because many airlines have cut back on flights after the disaster.

Meanwhile, other grassroots efforts have been springing up on a more personal level. Sites such as Sourcedest (http://www.sourcedest.org/resourcelist.rhtm ) and Webiest (http://www.webiest.com) are acting as clearing houses for IT professionals and geeks who want to get involved by volunteering to help set up networks and systems for companies affected by the disaster.

Many large internet companies have also been helping by raising money for the victims of the attacks. eBay, for instance, is trying to raise $100m in 100 days through its Auction for America programme by auctioning off donated products and persuading users to sell their own stuff and donate the proceeds to the fund.

eBay is also involved in another website called The American Liberty Partnership (http://www.libertyunites.org ), which it founded together with Amazon, AOL Time Warner, Cisco, Microsoft and Yahoo! This site acts as a referral centre for people wanting to make donations to a wide range of organisations.

Microsoft has also donated $5m in cash and a further $5m in technical services, some of which will be used to help create a database system used to try to reunite survivors and their families.

The overall mood of the industry is much the same as the country. There is shock and the desire to help out where possible, and internet companies are at the forefront of trying to help out where possible.

The net effect

In the long run, one outcome of this attack may be to limit civil liberties: the US Senate has already loosened the rules that restrict the use of the FBI's Carnivore net tapping system. The Combating Terrorism Act of 2001 - which was passed by Congress in a single day - allows wider use of Carnivore and other systems that can be used to tap network traffic and store it for later analysis.

Already there have been claims that Carnivore systems have been installed on the networks of several ISPs to try to track computer criminals and terrorists. Activists are warning that net users' rights could be lost in the rush to find terrorists. Many people think the pay off is worth it.

And this rather worrying trend may continue: a recent poll conducted after the attacks revealed 72 per cent of those surveyed support a ban on so-called 'unbreakable' encryption that could be used by terrorists. And several high-ranking members of the US government have discussed the possibility of restricting encryption systems without a government-approved backdoor, a subject that would have been met with howls of protest at any other time.

At the moment, only a few people have responded to these remarks, with most activists keeping a low profile as the country tries to come to terms with what has happened. But should we forget what the Centre for Democracy and Technology warned recently? It stated: "Surrendering freedom will not purchase security."