Internet monitoring plan threatens privacy

[Commentary] The Obama administration is preparing legislation that would force all Internet communications providers - from social networking sites to smart phones - to give the government more access to intercept and monitor online communications. Law enforcement officials claim that terrorists are "going dark" and that they need more tools to monitor them. Silicon Valley was taken by surprise by the announcement, suggesting that officials didn't even think to include technology companies in the discussion. Maybe if they had, they wouldn't have come up with such a drastic, odious and cumbersome proposal. We need to hear a lot more from the Obama administration about why this is necessary. Because it seems to be an invasion of our privacy with little upside for public safety.