and have seen this at the end:

> In one controversial proposal, the report suggests revising wiretap laws to make
> it easier for law enforcement to obtain the data warrants that allow online
> information to be monitored and collected; the report says that traditional search
> warrants are “increasingly impractical in the online environment”.

The abuse of warrantless wiretaps makes me far less trusting that these surveillance systems will themselves have any judicial oversight. Without oversight we have to trust that the request itself, and the people behind it, are acting responsibly.

The last 10 years have made a shambles of reliable societal controls. Who will watch the watchers? At times, it seems, no one at all. That’s too much power for anyone.

Speaking on behalf of the GNU Telephony project, we do intend to openly defy such a law should it actually come to pass, so I want to be very clear on this statement. It is not simply that we will choose to publicly defy the imposition of such an illegitimate law, but that we will explicitly continue to publicly develop and distribute free software (that is software that offers the freedom to use, inspect, and modify) enabling secure peer-to-peer communication privacy through encryption that is made available directly to anyone worldwide. Clearly such software is especially needed in those places, such as in the United States, where basic human freedoms and dignity seem most threatened.

In the United States the 4th amendment did not come about simply because it was impractical to directly spy on everyone on such a large scale. Nor does it end simply because it may now be technically feasible to do so. Communication privacy furthermore is essential to the normal functioning of free societies, whether speaking of whistle-blowers, journalists who have to protect their sources, human rights and peace activists engaging in legitimate political dissent, workers engaged in union organizing, or lawyers who must protect the confidentiality of their privileged communications with clients.

However, to fully appreciate the effect of such surveillance on human societies, imagine being among several hundred million people who wake up each day having to prove they are not a “terrorist” by whatever arbitrary means the government has decided to both define the terms of such a crime and whatever arbitrary methods unknown to you that they might choose to define you as such, and where even your prosecution is carried out under the immunity of “state secrets” that all police states use to abuse of their own citizens. Such a society is one who’s very foundation is built on the premise of everyone being guilty until proven innocent and where due process does not exist. It is the imposition of such a illegitimate society that we do choose to openly oppose, and to do so in this manner.

David Alexander Sugar
Chief Facilitator
GNU Telephony

How does building in backdoors keep us safe? Once the script kiddies figure out how to spoof the government secret software handshake, they’ll be able to gain access to all compliant software.

And before anyone gets fired up, this has nothing to do with one president or another, but has, instead, everything to do with our government as a whole and our (the citizens) apathy towards constant and negative changes.