From: "Wayne H. Allen" <whallen@capitalnet.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Aug 1996 03:01:44 +0800
To: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: "world communications being monitored"
Message-ID: <199608171646.MAA01774@ginger.capitalnet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 08:44 PM 8/16/96 -0700, Vladimir Z. Nuri wrote:
>
>------- Forwarded Message
>From: "Mat Guthrie" <matguthrie@enterprise.net>
>To: mmlist-l@newciv.org
>Date: Wed, 14 Aug 1996 20:14:39 +0000
>Subject: All Int' Communications Are Monitored
>
>
>- - ->  SearchNet's   snetnews   Mailing List
>
>Hi there all,
>
>I heard an amazing news report on the radio today, that confirmed
>what I've heard and suspected for a long time - all international
>communications *are* continually being monitored!!

    No, what this guy heard was a book report. I don't know how
well a writer Mr. Hager is but if he doesn't have proper documentation
then he confirms nothing. 

>
>The report was on "The World at One" news report on BBC Radio 4 -
>about as respected, reliable and informative a source as any
>mainstream media is ever likely to be. The feature spoke about a
>book that's come out in New Zealand called "Secret Power" by Nicky
>Hager, that has been endorsed by the former (?) Prime Minister of New
>Zealand himself. It supposedly goes into great detail about an
>international agreement called "Echelon" of which the US, UK,
>France, New Zealand, Australia and several other nations are all
>participants. According to Nicky Hager - who was interviewed on the
>program - a system of monitoring stations have been set up in various
>countries in the world that continually monitor ALL fax, email,
>telephone and satellite communications etc, "sniffing" for keywords
>using super computers. When these key words are identified the
>information is automatically logged and according to Hager, sent
>directly to the US intelligence services.
>
>Now whilst many of us have undoubtedly come across this sort of
>information before and undoubtedly many of us have probably scoffed
>at such ascertions as merely impossible and blatantly paranoid,
>something very significant sets this report apart. Before the book
>was published, Hager went with his manuscript to the New Zealand
>Prime Minister who had been responsible for signing NZ up to the
>agreement (I got the impression that he is no longer in power). 

    If anyone cares to look up the political history of the western
Pacific rim, it would seem very suspicious that N.Z and Australia would
have any intelligence commitment with France at all.



>Anyway, the PM was so shocked by the revelations that the book 
>contained, that he has written the forward to the book. Supposedly he 
>says that he had no idea of the true nature of the agreement and the 
>powers which it bestowed on the intelligence services and is 
>obviously trying to distance himself from the storm that's beginning 
>to brew up about it. Maybe he's just covering his arse or maybe he 
>was just another puppet head of government who wasn't properly 
>informed about what was really taking place in his own country, but 
>either way, the fact that he has got involved with the book adds 
>considerable credibility to it's claims.

    If the PM has no credibility (his saying he knew nothing) how does
his input add credibility to the book?



 Those of you who have often 
>said that such wide-scale monitoring is "obviously impossible" might 
>be wise to re-evaluate your positions!
>

    Those of us in-the-know won't be reevaluating anything. Save your
money and wait for the book to get into the local library. Better to
spend your money on David's book on Enigma.


Wayne H.Allen
whallen@capitalnet.com
Pgp key at www.capitalnet.com/~whallen