From: frantz@netcom.com (Bill Frantz)
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 14:58:58 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: "Gentlemen do not read each other's mail"
Message-ID: <199601260353.TAA07910@netcom6.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At  4:08 PM 1/25/96 -0500, hallam@w3.org wrote:
>>Why is he our patron saint? He was a government official coming out
>>against invasion of privacy. Isn't that what we are all after, in the
>>end?
>
>There is a considerable difference between running a government and being an 
>individual. It is not merely ethical for one government to read another's
>mail, 
>it is a duty.

I am not sure that I believe this line of reasoning my self, but here goes:

The US government is "owned" by its citizens.  Therefore US citizens should
have a high degree of protection from their government.  However, non-US
citizens do not enjoy this same high standard (not being "owners").  They
perhaps should enjoy a similar standard in relation to their own
governments.

Another way of putting it is that while gentlemen do not read each other's
mail, gentlemen read non-gentlemen's mail.

Bill