[LINK] words from the 'past'

[Jan Whitaker]

History sure is being re-written at the moment, isn't it?

Jan

> From 1997 an article by then-senator Ashcroft about computer encryption
>and the Clinton administration:
>
>Keep Big Brother's Hands Off The Internet By Senator John Ashcroft
>http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/1097/ijge/gj-7.htm
>
>There is a concern that the Internet could be used to commit crimes and
>that advanced encryption could disguise such activity. However, we do
>not provide the government with phone jacks outside our homes for
>unlimited wiretaps. Why, then, should we grant government the Orwellian
>capability to listen at will and in real time to our communications
>across the Web?
>
>The protections of the Fourth Amendment are clear. The right to
>protection from unlawful searches is an indivisible American value. Two
>hundred years of court decisions have stood in defense of this
>fundamental right. The state's interest in effective crime-fighting
>should never vitiate the citizens' Bill of Rights.
>
><snip>
>
>The administration's interest in all e-mail is a wholly unhealthy
>precedent, especially given this administration's track record on FBI
>files and IRS snooping. Every medium by which people communicate can be
>subject to exploitation by those with illegal intentions. Nevertheless,
>this is no reason to hand Big Brother the keys to unlock our e-mail
>diaries, open our ATM records, read our medical records, or translate
>our international communications.
>
>Additionally, the full potential of the Internet will never be realized
>without a system that fairly protects the interests of those who use the
>Internet for their businesses, own copyrighted material, deliver that
>material via the Internet, or individual users. The implications here
>are far-reaching, with impacts that touch individual users, companies,
>libraries, universities, teachers, and students.

JLWhitaker Associates
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit@primenet.com  --  http://www.primenet.com/~jwhit/whitentr.htm


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