Re: cr> Wiretapping

1996-04-05

(Note from moderator: I think at this point we should get stop the
thread of how much privacy is important.  Several people have had a
chance to state their positions articulately, and I don't believe
we'll get anywhere by continuing.--Andy)

Sender: •••@••.•••

In a message dated 96-04-04 16:17:53 EST, you write:

>Why don't you just invite a policeman to move in to your spare room (the
>government paying his rent, of course) where he can observe your life
>around the clock and happily certify to proper authority that you are
>never doing anything wrong?
>
>Or if you don't have a spare room, why not just have a big interactive TV
>set in every room that can fulfil the same function?
>
>

As long as he cleans up after himself and doesn't eat all my food I could
care less....
I have nothing to fear from "Big Brother". Hell, if the government wants to
go "halfsies" on the rent, I WELCOME THEM! I've  even got a hide-a-bed he can
use.

>       So, as you see it, the only people who want and seek privacy are
>criminals?   C'mon.  You'd consent to "routine searches" at random times,
>even at 2 a.m. just to prove you weren't doing anything wrong?  You'd be
>OK with search checkpoints at every town border, because you know you
>don't have any contraband?  You'd write all your correspondence on
>postcards if the government banned envalopes?  Leave copies of your
>housekeys with the police in case they feel like searching your house
>while you're away?  How would you feel about a camera in your home with a
>microphone that is internetable by law enforcement, who might like to
>"check in" with you from time to time to make sure you aren't doing or
>saying anything you shouldn't.   All this is what your attitude toward
>privacy could lead to.

Criminals are the only ones who have to fear the lack of privacy. If the
above actions were necessary to insure that I will never be murdered by some
drug addicted maniac, to insure that my children will never be preyed upon by
pornographers or sellers of drugs, or to insure that my banker is not
stealing my hard earned money then so be it. All I want out of life is to be
safe, and to be allowed to fail or prosper on my own.

>Glad to see you've resonated with the attitude your kind,
>benevolent government wants you to have.  You're a good slave, I mean
>citizen.       

May I enquire as to why you are so openly hostile towards the "kind,
Benevolent government" that has protected you, coddled you, and allowed you
to live in a state of luxury that is enviable to the entire rest of the
world? You wouldn't happen to be writing from a pisshole ranch in Montana
surrounded by the "enemy agents" from the FBI are you? 

Oh yeah, and since you've invoked my nationalistic pride, my spin on the
whole "freemen" situation is this: Give them what they want, declare that
little ranch in Montana a soverign nation. And then invade it and annex it
into the state of Montana.

>olmaniac, you idjit. 

Thanks, but Im not an idjit.

> under the unconstitutional joy-stab known as the cda, everyone will be
>afraid to do anything not allowed in a disney movie, not knowing if a minor
>is watching or not.

The last time I checked, the internet was not designed to be a cornucopia of
masterbatory delight. You wouldn't go to the local mall and have sex with
your lover would you (With a name like Diced Puppys, though, I wouldn't put
it past you 8^) )?
Do you copulate in front of your picture window with the blinds open and the
curtains drawn?

>this law also creates one immense area for terrorism and
>abuse that no one has mentioned : if someone wanted to stop the conversation
>even allowed between adults under the cda, all that he or she would need to
>do would be to engage in some grey discussion, perhaps even having to pass
>age verifiers, and then let a kid "accidentaly" get access to it.

Are we a little paranoid perhaps?

>   with a
>wiretap the entire idea is to conduct it in such a manner that the target
may
>do none of the above, thus allowing "fishing expeditions" and abuses without
>recourse or redress for the violated.

The idea behind a wire tap is to collect information on the activities of a
person suspected of wrong-doing. Thats why to get a wire-tap you have to
present your suspicions to a judge who then has to agree with your suspicions
and then sign a court order. 

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