Progressives Progressing Toward...

[johnqpublic]

Totalitarianism.

A Senate proposal touted as protecting Americans' e-mail privacy has been quietly rewritten, giving government agencies more surveillance power than they possess under current law...

...Leahy's [Senator Patrick, (D)-VT] rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies -- including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission -- to access Americans' e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge....

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[tree68]

Taken in the context of fighting "legitimate" crime (as opposed to fishing expeditions), this makes sense.  We all want the bad guys out of business.

The devil, of course, is in the details, which includes exactly those fishing expeditions.

It's one thing to get caught speeding by police radar, it's another thing entirely to get a ticket because you told a buddy in an email that you "really lit it up" on the Interstate, hitting triple digits.

I am reminded of the story regarding telephone central office technicians (back in the days of relays and lots of wires) who know who the local "hot pants" was...

[johnqpublic]

I don't know, tree. Legitimate crime has been fought legitimately for years. It's somehow comforting to know the police or the FBI have to present evidence to a judge that shows probable cause for a warrant to be issued before they can go snooping in my dirty laundry. I've got no real issue with them sniffing out potential terrorist plots, but even that is a slippery slope. I have a real problem when 22 agencies can snoop at will. The SEC or the FCC aren't in the business of terrorist plots and I just can't see any good coming from this. The IRS has been politicized and weaponized and used against "enemies lists" before; what's to stop, say, the EPA from snooping on potential polluters? It's tough enough already to fight city hall; it might be all but impossible if a pissed off bureacrat has access to your personal communications and, under this proposed new law, can and will use them against you?

[mhhuggins1]

can you say big brother

[tree68]

JQP - I totally agree. 

Part of the problem with "legitimate crime"  (that sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it?) is that the criminals are getting tech savvy, perhaps even to the point of being able to defeat the usual investigative process.

It is a slippery slope, indeed.  I actually don't support the proposed changes.  Like you, I'm happy with the checks and balances.  Take those away and the problems begin (or get bigger).

BTW - I have a program (acquired on-line) that will hide messages in YouTube videos.  If you get it, too, we can start swapping really secret messages....   

[johnqpublic]

...BTW - I have a program (acquired on-line) that will hide messages in YouTube videos.  If you get it, too, we can start swapping really secret messages....   

Don't do it, tree, it's a trap! It's the FCC coming through the back door. If and when they license the interwebs, they're keeping tabs on how many times you break the rules of decency so they can fine you accordingly retroactively.

[antiblog]

it's amazing that Left Nut jobs condone and even push agendas like this, but think that the rights they fight for like being able to abort life at will is "Freedom".