Must read LTTE in Boston Globe on wiretapping

[Altean Wanderer]

Hello everyone. The following LTTE is in today's (August 7) Boston Globe. The author is a former AT&T researcher who holds a number of patents for call management systems. It's quite chilling:

"The unintended consequences of the expansion of the FISA act of 1978 will be legalization of wiretapping of any and all Americans and businesses in this country. Although President Bush says that revising FISA would expand governmental powers to eavesdrop on suspected foreign terrorists, there is no technology nor science that identifies any suspicious communication without scanning ALL communications. (emphasis mine)

The simple truth is that terrorists or anyone planning a terrorist act will use unknown and anonymous telephone routing numbers. As an expert in telephone routing and tracking systems, I can assure you that there is no way on this earth to identify such calls unless you are listening in on all calls.

Thus, in passing the Protect America Act of 2007, which the president signed into law, Congress has authorized the clandestine wiretapping of all Americans and all calls and communications to and from anywhere, whether private or commercial.

Most troubling is that the primary reason for limiting judicial review is that such oversight would determine that any implementation of this legislation requires targeting all Americans.

Given this administration's record on leveling with the American public, the consequences of this measure might not be unintended at all." - Daniel E. Speers, Haverhill

I read this over breakfast - I can feel my stomach churning.

[meegbear]

1. Or you can read it here ...

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2007/08/07/bush_and_congress_serve_up_a_surveillance_law/

[ixion]

2. yet another law that needs to go

if we're ever able to restore the republic. :-(

[Vinca]

3. I wondered how they could weed out the "suspicious" calls.

The AT&T guy provides the answer: they can't. Snip another section out of the Constitution.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

4. As I pointed out on another thread..

The "bad guys" have any number of ways of getting around this wiretapping without using high tech at all.

Euphemisms, slang, one time code pads (impossible to break), Esperanto, the Arabic equivalent of pig latin, etc.

Idday ouyay etgay ethay ombay?

I seriously doubt the code breaking computers understand English pig latin, let alone Arabic.

Even native English speakers often have difficulty understanding one another if the accents are different enough. I'd be willing to bet there are quite a few different accents in Arabic that are mutually unintelligible without difficulty.

I worked with a Scotsman for a while, he would say what sounded like "hoot mon" for "what man".

Then there is Cockney rhyming slang, "yer plates 'o meat" are your feet and so on.

[partylessinOhio]

5. The urgent need for a vacation trumped common sense and their oath

to protect and defend the Constitution.

We need to clean house and throw out all that voted to give such illegal power to an impostor.

[Canuckistanian]

6. He makes a good point

Unless they're listening in to every public phone, every Pay-as-you-go cell phone or every VOIP call, they're going to miss something. Their solution? Tap EVERYTHING.

Terrorists are NOT going to be using an insecure line unless they have a death wish.

[tecelote]

7. If you do not get approved for a mortgage...

...or your credit card is declined for no reason, it just might have been something you said.

They can support or hinder people in many small ways.

Plus, this is new. They'll get better at it.