"Back When Spies Played by the Rules"

[bloom]

By DAVID KAHN
Published: January 13, 2006

PRESIDENT Bush's ordering the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans without warrants contradicts a long evolution toward the secrecy of communications. Centuries ago, people in England, France and the German states fought for the right to send letters without their being opened by the "black chambers" of absolutist monarchs. Martin Luther, whose letters had been opened by the Duke of Saxony, raged that "a thief is a thief, whether he is a money thief or a letter thief."


Regulations called for postal secrecy in 1532 and 1573 in Austria's Tyrol, in Prussia in 1685, in the oath of succession taken in 1690 by the Holy Roman emperor Joseph I and in his postal regulation of 1698. Rulers ignored them. Like Britain's Oliver Cromwell, who saw the post as "the best means to discover and prevent many dangerous and wicked designs against the Commonwealth," they justified letter-opening.

It sometimes worked. In 1723, Bishop Francis Atterbury was exiled, partly on the basis of intercepted letters, for trying to put a pretender on Britain's throne. Monarchs got information from their "black chambers" - secret rooms in post offices in main cities into which the mail was brought for opening.

London's was in Abchurch Lane, near St. Paul's. Black chambers resembled laboratories. Kettles spouted steam to soften wax seals. Experts took impressions of seals with a soft amalgam to make new ones in case they broke the originals while sliding hot wires under them. Specialists slid thin batons with a long slit into envelopes and twirled letters around them so they could be extracted without breaking the seals.<more>

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/13/opinion/13kahn.html?th&emc=th


Interesting history...

[Silverhair]

1. How wonderfully naive. NT

[bloom]

2. If you read the thing - it's not like Spies ever "played by the rules"

as much as with different technology - wax seals and all - it was the same game a different day.

It was interesting to hear how much the people took offense to letters being opened. Seems like people now a days are more likely to resign themselves to being spied on. Like what the hell are you going to do anyway - if someone has the ability to listen to your cell phone calls. :shrug:

So some people complain about Bush and NSA spying and some people say - "I don't have anything to hide anyway" (as if those who don't like it - do).