FBI's New Computer System: Late, Overbudget...And Useless For Finding Terrorists
from the but,-school-kids...-and-video-game-stars? dept
Back in 2000 the FBI decided it was finally time to upgrade their computer system, realizing they were very much out of date. They set up a plan that was expected to cost $380 million and be completed in 2003. It's now 2004 and $600 million have already been poured into it... and a new study says the system is useless in fighting terrorism. It was originally designed to help with investigations, and not counter-intelligence. Apparently, no one designing the system thought to make it flexible enough to adjust should the main focus of the FBI change at all. Instead, they just spent and spent - and are now being told they may need to start all over again from scratch. It's not as if no one knew terrorism was a threat in 2000, either. No wonder the FBI remains so good at tracking down kids file sharing, but can't seem to distinguish video game villains from real terrorists.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Reflection of public tastes
The FBI at the time was criticized for not spending enough resources to fight crime on the streets, that instead they were investigating useless "counter-intelligence" threats, relics of a bygone Cold War era. Politicians competed to say bad things about the CIA/FBI intelligence apparatus, that the CIA should be abolished. People argued that Osama was just a "straw man", an imaginary foe invented by Washington because "America needs an enemy".
For similar reasons, it is often very difficult for government agencies to obtain up-to-date computer systems. Budgets are subject to many months of acrimonious debate, by which time software has been upgraded several versions. But since the original budget called for a particular version, the agency may be required by law to purchase the outdated software/hardware anyway. If the agency deviates from this, then hearings will take place on Capitol Hill about "$400 toasters", etc., and the masses are whipped up into a frenzy of anger over "government waste".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Reflection of public tastes
[ link to this | view in thread ]
What they really thought ...
Yes it sure was a lot of money.
But you can play Grand Theft Auto Vice City on it !
[ link to this | view in thread ]