From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@piermont.com>
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 1995 08:06:51 +0800
To: m5@dev.tivoli.com (Mike McNally)
Subject: Re: FBI seeks huge wiretapping system
In-Reply-To: <9511021924.AA12407@alpha>
Message-ID: <199511022239.RAA06803@jekyll.piermont.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



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