This Zimbabwean law is probably giving Bush and Rove a hard-on

[nosillies]

There's discussion in the Zimbabwean parliament about a new law allowing the government to listen to cell phone conversations, monitor email, etc. -- all in the name of preventing terrorism, of course!!!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/23/AR2006072300218.html

[Solly Mack]

1. Where do you think they got the idea from?

Bush Regime...spreading tyranny around the world

[DRoseDARs]

2. "...in line with international practice." 'Nuff said. n't

[rodeodance]

5. and now all countries can do preemptive strikes/invasions.

[madokie]

3. that is providing they are capable

if there was ever an argument for birth control these two are it. both despicable character's

[Recursion]

4. The African telco industry is in an odd position

...at least from a technical standpoint. We're in the middle of witnessing an entire generation of sub-saharan Africans get cell phones in environments with little or no traditional POTS land lines. Surveilling cell phones is interesting because the technical bar for actually doing it is fairly low; it just takes a receiver and patience (as I try to point out here, even though I'm worried about Cheney listening in to my phone calls, if you use a cell phone the more immediate worry is identity thieves listening in to your phone call -- for God's sake, never ever call your bank on a cell phone.) But also, unlike a landline, there's no specific physical address tied to a phone line. So cell phone are at once more transparent and more anonymous; the old police tactic of tapping lines after suspicion of a given person doesn't exactly work, particularly in a developing economy.

Troubling development, anyways...

[On the Road]

6. Well, That's Interesting Dmesg,

what's your relationship to the African telecom industry? (I'm a Verizon landline employee.)

I understand it's easy to pick up cell phone signals, but to choose individual numbers, wouldn't the surveillance effort need to access the mobile switches?

[Recursion]

7. Choosing individual numbers is hard

But listening to traffic in general is as easy as sniffing. Just stand next to the ATM (not the kind of ATM you're thinking of, to any non-telco workers) and grab the signal. That's what identity thieves do: they don't target John Doe in particular, but they do hear his phone call to his bank where he says his account number or SSN. But police face the same technology: it's trivial to listen to everyone's cell calls, but listening to a specific person's can be more difficult.

My relationship to the African telecom industry is of a very small investor in a few concerns, and as a former telco employee with a largely academic interest in seeing how the development continues.

Oh, and tell your bosses I paid the damn bill already so stop sending me threatening letters...

[On the Road]

8. Sounds Like It's Almost Easier to Capture Everything

and sort out the individual call later. Probably what intelligence agencies are likely to do provided they have the budget.