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2008-01-25 Home Front: WoT

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Posted by Steve White 2008-01-25 00:13|| || Front Page|| [6 views ] Top

#1 The biggest problem we have with intelligence agencies continually demanding more authority and power is not just that they cannot resist abusing their power, it is that there is no reasonable end to the power that they demand.

No amount of surveillance is enough to dispel fear, or more appropriately, paranoia. Combine that with a voyeuristic sense, and the end result is the collection of vast amounts of useless data, a tidal wave of useless trivia, in which there is an ounce of important information, indistinguishable from the rest.

If you insist on capturing the tidal wave, you will invariably miss the ounce. "But we *have* to collect the tidal wave", misses the point. No, they don't.

Before 911, the NSA unashamedly demanded the right to keys for all computer encryption. The reason was economic, that billions of dollars could be covertly transferred between nations for nefarious purposes, out of sight of government.

It most certainly was a national security issue, and one in which they had a legitimate, if futile, need to break codes. Paradoxically, it was so impractical a demand, and yet, they hoped that a law would be passed in their favor.

But how do you demand the keys to everyone's computer? The NSA had to have the support of the public for such an invasive control. So instead of telling the truth, they made a rare, public announcement. They needed access to all code keys to "prevent child pr0n". Something that has nothing to do with national security.

The final result was that they did not get their immense power. But, in the final analysis, they didn't need it. Simply monitoring the ordinary flow of business money was quite enough to prevent what they were afraid of.

Perhaps it is the same with FISA. For all their hue and cry that obtaining warrants for searches is a terrible burden, in truth, it isn't. For the most part, international terrorists are fairly easy to track, as are their communications. And efforts at domestic terrorism are much the same.

The tools they had were sufficient, they didn't really need any more. And more tools just meant a lot more useless data to have to slosh through, to find that same ounce of important data.

Posted by Anonymoose 2008-01-25 09:14|| 2008-01-25 09:14|| Front Page Top

#2 The tools they had were sufficient, they didn't really need any more.

The tools they had were a hammer and a chisel. What they needed was a powermeter and a soldering iron.

You overlook the degree to which they could be held legally responsible for using tools other than a hammer and chisel under laws developed before electricity came into regular use.

Posted by lotp 2008-01-25 10:34|| 2008-01-25 10:34|| Front Page Top

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