The Bill of Rights Was Justa Fad Anyway, Right?

Its amazing how much the government can get away with in the name of "national security".

The USA PATRIOT Act already removed many rights of American citizens "temporarily" in the interests of fighting "terrorism" and defending "national security". Most of the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act have expiration dates, but I wouldn't be surprised if they get quietly extended indefinitely during some secret session of Congress- closed to the public for "national security" reasons.

In 1994 the FBI got the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) pushed through because they were having issues spying on us with call waiting and call forwarding. So, they were granted more wire tapping rights and we lost some of our privacy rights and the telephone companies were required to comply with provisions that allow the FBI to tap more easily.

Now, the FBI claims that voice over IP and other Internet telephony technologies again hinder their ability to track "terrorists" and defend "national security". Tapping ISP's falls outside of any scope they've been granted so they are lobbying the FCC to push for an expansion of CALEA that would require ISP's to implement some sort of central hub that can be used to tap and monitor their customers.

Here is a ZDNet article on the subject: FBI wants to tap Net phones

silly government, skripts are for kids....

they need to learn that the more they tighten things, the more things will grow. they will not control us.

Will they ever stop. the answer. Probably not. we are never really free. damn those terrorists its all their fault. lol. but sickyourIT is right the more they limit the more people will fight back. *sighs* what a world we live in.

PeacE
-BoB

I'm hoping the retaliation from that will be strong enough to limit what the government is trying to do there....again, privacy issues and lawsuits could come into play perhaps, but that's just a guess of what might happen....

I really think that we're at a crossroads here, in terms of how we interpret our constitution...

loosely / strictly

Seems to me that we're leaning more towards the loose side if anything else. I realize that the governement is 'trying' to protect us, but in the name of what? Attempting to watch and perhaps regulate every single american life is what they seem to be doing... Which is a key feature of a totalitarian regime am I right? Some scary stuff. In the name of national security they are saying that it is necessary to expand on the CALEA, to prevent terrorism. There's got to be a better way...

Some say tighten our boarders, language, and culture?
I tend to agree with them.

--Peace :cool:

Heres a quote I just love, that is right on the nose for this thread...

Quote:

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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety - Ben Franklin

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Will our liberties and privacy stop eroding away; not likely. Will the people "retaliate"; never. When we lost out privacy on the phone, the internet came around, now that we are loosing our privacy there, what will come next and what will be the response to it from the government. Wether we want to admit it to ourselves or not, it IS about control. Would you trust 2500 employee's to a computer network and not have a way to keep track of what they are doing? No, because you would either find them organizing a massive strike, or worse selling off your company data to the competition. It seems like a endless cycle to me, though it would be nice to be wrong.

The current administation (U.S.) is doing what they want and telling us it is for our own good. We are considering reinstating the draft. Our rights as citizens are becoming non-existent. There are those that will support the current trend, I don't happen to be one of them. Our local news is a spinoff of ET. In my town I am blitzing the news and politicains with "citizens for accountability" a grass roots organization demanding integrity in local goverment. We are starting to be paid attention to. I am all 372 members. We all do what we can!

Quote:

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Would you trust 2500 employee's to a computer network and not have a way to keep track of what they are doing? No, because you would either find them organizing a massive strike, or worse selling off your company data to the competition. It seems like a endless cycle to me

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I strongly agree with you. But as long as we live in this EXTREMELY competitive lifestyle, things wont change much. We'll always try to be better than the competitors. The government is perhaps going the wrong way about this but i dont see any easier way. On one side we want to feel safe but on the other hand, we dont want to lose our privacy. its a very thin line which the Government often goes overboard. Retaliation??...Never going to happen. It would be by far the most n00birific and Stupid thing to that a person or group of people could do. Trying to screw with the government is like askin terrorists to just walk in and blow the crap out of you. I dont know if you get my point...but what i'm trying to say is that it wouldn't be wise to screw with the government comps cuz its those compz which keep track of conversations and stuff which we could perhaps intercept a terrorist plan. But no matter what...its just the way it is rite now...in order for some people to have a job as System Security or whatever its called to prevent hackers stuff....u need the hackers in the first place. its the Ying/Yang....Good vs Evil....its been goin on forever and it will keep going on and on and on and on..."lol that remind me of the energizer bunny"...

Peace