US wants own 'Snooping Bill'

The Clinton administration plans to push forward a US equivalent of the UK's controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Bill.

The legislation will update telephone tapping laws, extending them to the surveillance of email and internet communications.

Speaking at a National Press Club dinner in Washington DC, White House chief-of-staff, John Podesta, echoed the words spoken by UK Home Secretary Jack Straw when he launched the update to the Interception of Communication Act - much of which eventually became the RIP Bill.

Podesta told reporters that federal law has set a tough but workable standard for when law enforcement officers can listen to the content of a phone call, but now the same legal protections should apply equally to electronic communication.

At the same time, Podesta said the administration wants to protect civil liberties and thus will relax the laws that cover export of encryption technology.

The moves come just days after evidence of an FBI cyber-surveillance system, called Carnivore, was uncovered. Attorney General, Janet Reno, has been forced to investigate whether the FBI's use of Carnivore is breaking US law.