[42735] in Cypherpunks
Re: FBI seeks huge wiretapping system
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Perry E. Metzger)
Thu Nov 2 17:54:35 1995
To: m5@dev.tivoli.com (Mike McNally)
Cc: hallam@w3.org, cypherpunks@toad.com
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 02 Nov 1995 13:24:27 CST."
<9511021924.AA12407@alpha>
Reply-To: perry@piermont.com
Date: Thu, 02 Nov 1995 17:39:06 -0500
From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@piermont.com>
Mike McNally writes:
>
> hallam@w3.org writes:
> > It is a fair point that just because technology has changed the
> > nature of the game it should not mean that wiretaps cease to be
> > possible.
>
> I disagree that this is a "fair point". That wiretaps are possible is
> an accident of design. Just because that slice of the salami appears
> gone, I see no reason to concede that it can't be re-attached.
Indeed, I have searched both the constitution and my collected works
of Nietzsche and found no reference to the inalienable right of
governments to listen in on any conversations, let alone the 1% of
conversations the FBI wants access to. By the way, I believe the
quantity in question exceeds the quantity tapped by the East German
government at its height -- certainly it does if you take into account
the fact that phones were more scarce there.
Thank you, Louis Freeh, for taking another step towards the police state.
Perry
