Detailed Information About AT&T/NSA Internet Spying Program (775 hits)
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Submitted by John Galt <UberJohnGalt.at.gmail.com> (View user info) at 2006-05-22 12:38:06 EDT
According to the 4th amendment, the government is forbidden to conduct any unreasonable search. There's no "if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear" clause. It doesn't say "except when there are terrorists" or "except in cases where the President says so", and it doesn't provide an exception for times of war, broad sweeping information gathering that isn't focused on a specific individual, or heightened color codes related to national security. It's in effect at all times, for all people, in all situations. They government needs probable cause or a warrant, preferably both. At least, that's the way it's suppose to work.
The following information is regarding the AT&T/NSA joint venture to spy on all Internet traffic that they could tap into. Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, blew the whistle on the operation and is now the key witness in the lawsuit against them. Klein also provided three internal company documents which provide very strong (and really fucking scary) evidence to support his claims. The judge presiding over the case recently ruled (at AT&T's request) that these documents be sealed. The decision is based on AT&T's claim that "information in the file is proprietary and that it would suffer severe harm if it were released." The seal only affects the parties involved in the law suit, so anyone with access to the information prior to it being sealed is not prohibited from distributing the information.
Unfortunately, because it is sealed now, there's no way to verify whether the information that was gathered before the court order is really part of the evidence. However, one news site, Wired News, has recently published the documents that it has. Once again, there is absolutely no way to verify these files 100%. However, they do appear to be some of the files that Mark Klein took from AT&T while he was employed there. It's not 100%, but it is the best information anyone is going to have about it for quite a while.
Since the rest of the media/news outlets seem to have their heads up their asses, I'm posting it here to spread the word, get hits and maybe even start a fight...
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Whistle-Blower's Evidence, Uncut...from Wired News
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Former AT&T technician Mark Klein is the key witness in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's class-action lawsuit against the telecommunications company, which alleges that AT&T cooperated in an illegal National Security Agency domestic surveillance program.
Inside the Secret Room
In a public statement Klein issued last month, he described the NSA's visit to an AT&T office. In an older, less-public statement recently acquired by Wired News, Klein goes into additional details of his discovery of an alleged surveillance operation in an AT&T building in San Francisco.
Klein supports his claim by attaching excerpts of three internal company documents: a Dec. 10, 2002, manual titled "Study Group 3, LGX/Splitter Wiring, San Francisco," a Jan. 13, 2003, document titled "SIMS, Splitter Cut-In and Test Procedure" and a second "Cut-In and Test Procedure" dated Jan. 24, 2003.
Here we present Klein's statement in its entirety, with inline links to all of the document excerpts where he cited them. You can also download the complete file here (pdf). The full AT&T documents are filed under seal in federal court in San Francisco.
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AT&T's Implementation of NSA Spying on American Citizens
31 December 2005
I wrote the following document in 2004 when it became clear to me that AT&T, at the behest of the National Security Agency, had illegally installed secret computer gear designed to spy on internet traffic. At the time I thought this was an outgrowth of the notorious Total Information Awareness program, which was attacked by defenders of civil liberties. But now it's been revealed by The New York Times that the spying program is vastly bigger and was directly authorized by President Bush, as he himself has now admitted, in flagrant violation of specific statutes and constitutional protections for civil liberties. I am presenting this information to facilitate the dismantling of this dangerous Orwellian project.
AT&T Deploys Government Spy Gear on WorldNet Network
16 January, 2004
In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company's popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.
The physical arrangement, the timing of its construction, the government-imposed secrecy surrounding it and other factors all strongly suggest that its origins are rooted in the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program which brought forth vigorous protests from defenders of constitutionally protected civil liberties last year:
"As the director of the effort, Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, has described the system in Pentagon documents and in speeches, it will provide intelligence analysts and law enforcement officials with instant access to information from internet mail and calling records to credit card and banking transactions and travel documents, without a search warrant." The New York Times, 9 November 2002
To mollify critics, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) spokesmen have repeatedly asserted that they are only conducting "research" using "artificial synthetic data" or information from "normal DOD intelligence channels" and hence there are "no U.S. citizen privacy implications" (Department of Defense, Office of the Inspector General report on TIA, December 12, 2003). They also changed the name of the program to "Terrorism Information Awareness" to make it more politically palatable. But feeling the heat, Congress made a big show of allegedly cutting off funding for TIA in late 2003, and the political fallout resulted in Adm. Poindexter's abrupt resignation last August. However, the fine print reveals that Congress eliminated funding only for "the majority of the TIA components," allowing several "components" to continue (DOD, ibid). The essential hardware elements of a TIA-type spy program are being surreptitiously slipped into "real world" telecommunications offices.
In San Francisco the "secret room" is Room 641A at 611 Folsom Street, the site of a large SBC phone building, three floors of which are occupied by AT&T. High-speed fiber-optic circuits come in on the 8th floor and run down to the 7th floor where they connect to routers for AT&T's WorldNet service, part of the latter's vital "Common Backbone." In order to snoop on these circuits, a special cabinet was installed and cabled to the "secret room" on the 6th floor to monitor the information going through the circuits. (The location code of the cabinet is 070177.04, which denotes the 7th floor, aisle 177 and bay 04.) The "secret room" itself is roughly 24-by-48 feet, containing perhaps a dozen cabinets including such equipment as Sun servers and two Juniper routers, plus an industrial-size air conditioner.
The normal work force of unionized technicians in the office are forbidden to enter the "secret room," which has a special combination lock on the main door. The telltale sign of an illicit government spy operation is the fact that only people with security clearance from the National Security Agency can enter this room. In practice this has meant that only one management-level technician works in there. Ironically, the one who set up the room was laid off in late 2003 in one of the company's endless "downsizings," but he was quickly replaced by another.
Plans for the "secret room" were fully drawn up by December 2002, curiously only four months after Darpa started awarding contracts for TIA. One 60-page document, identified as coming from "AT&T Labs Connectivity & Net Services" and authored by the labs' consultant Mathew F. Casamassima, is titled Study Group 3, LGX/Splitter Wiring, San Francisco and dated 12/10/02. This document addresses the special problem of trying to spy on fiber-optic circuits. Unlike copper wire circuits which emit electromagnetic fields that can be tapped into without disturbing the circuits, fiber-optic circuits do not "leak" their light signals. In order to monitor such communications, one has to physically cut into the fiber somehow and divert a portion of the light signal to see the information.
This problem is solved with "splitters" which literally split off a percentage of the light signal so it can be examined. This is the purpose of the special cabinet referred to above: Circuits are connected into it, the light signal is split into two signals, one of which is diverted to the "secret room." The cabinet is totally unnecessary for the circuit to perform -- in fact it introduces problems since the signal level is reduced by the splitter -- its only purpose is to enable a third party to examine the data flowing between sender and recipient on the internet.
The above-referenced document includes a diagram showing the splitting of the light signal, a portion of which is diverted to "SG3 Secure Room," i.e., the so-called "Study Group" spy room. Another page headlined "Cabinet Naming" lists not only the "splitter" cabinet but also the equipment installed in the "SG3" room, including various Sun devices, and Juniper M40e and M160 "backbone" routers. PDF file 4 shows one of many tables detailing the connections between the "splitter" cabinet on the 7th floor (location 070177.04) and a cabinet in the "secret room" on the 6th floor (location 060903.01). Since the San Francisco "secret room" is numbered 3, the implication is that there are at least several more in other cities (Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego are some of the rumored locations), which likely are spread across the United States.
One of the devices in the "Cabinet Naming" list is particularly revealing as to the purpose of the "secret room": a Narus STA 6400. Narus is a 7-year-old company which, because of its particular niche, appeals not only to businessmen (it is backed by AT&T, JP Morgan and Intel, among others) but also to police, military and intelligence officials. Last November 13-14, for instance, Narus was the "Lead Sponsor" for a technical conference held in McLean, Virginia, titled "Intelligence Support Systems for Lawful Interception and Internet Surveillance." Police officials, FBI and DEA agents, and major telecommunications companies eager to cash in on the "war on terror" had gathered in the hometown of the CIA to discuss their special problems. Among the attendees were AT&T, BellSouth, MCI, Sprint and Verizon. Narus founder, Dr. Ori Cohen, gave a keynote speech. So what does the Narus STA 6400 do?
"The (Narus) STA Platform consists of standalone traffic analyzers that collect network and customer usage information in real time directly from the message.... These analyzers sit on the message pipe into the ISP (internet service provider) cloud rather than tap into each router or ISP device" (Telecommunications magazine, April 2000). A Narus press release (1 Dec., 1999) also boasts that its Semantic Traffic Analysis (STA) technology "captures comprehensive customer usage data ... and transforms it into actionable information.... (It) is the only technology that provides complete visibility for all internet applications."
To implement this scheme, WorldNet's high-speed data circuits already in service had to be rerouted to go through the special "splitter" cabinet. This was addressed in another document of 44 pages from AT&T Labs, titled SIMS, Splitter Cut-In and Test Procedure, dated 01/13/03. "SIMS" is an unexplained reference to the secret room. Part of this reads as follows:
"A WMS (work) Ticket will be issued by the AT&T Bridgeton Network Operation Center (NOC) to charge time for performing the work described in this procedure document....
"This procedure covers the steps required to insert optical splitters into select live Common Backbone (CBB) OC3, OC12 and OC48 optical circuits."
The NOC referred to is in Bridgeton, Missouri, and controls WorldNet operations. (As a sign that government spying goes hand-in-hand with union-busting, the entire (Communication Workers of America) Local 6377 which had jurisdiction over the Bridgeton NOC was wiped out in early 2002 when AT&T fired the union work force and later rehired them as nonunion "management" employees.) The cut-in work was performed in 2003, and since then new circuits are connected through the "splitter" cabinet.
Another Cut-In and Test Procedure document dated January 24, 2003, provides diagrams of how AT&T Core Network circuits were to be run through the "splitter" cabinet. One page lists the circuit IDs of key Peering Links which were "cut-in" in February 2003, including ConXion, Verio, XO, Genuity, Qwest, PAIX, Allegiance, AboveNet, Global Crossing, C&W, UUNET, Level 3, Sprint, Telia, PSINet and Mae West. By the way, Mae West is one of two key internet nodal points in the United States (the other, Mae East, is in Vienna, Virginia). It's not just WorldNet customers who are being spied on -- it's the entire internet.
The next logical question is, what central command is collecting the data sent by the various "secret rooms"? One can only make educated guesses, but perhaps the answer was inadvertently given in the DOD Inspector General's report (cited above):
"For testing TIA capabilities, Darpa and the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) created an operational research and development environment that uses real-time feedback. The main node of TIA is located at INSCOM (in Fort Belvoir, Virginia)...."
Among the agencies participating or planning to participate in the INSCOM "testing" are the "National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, the DOD Counterintelligence Field Activity, the U.S. Strategic Command, the Special Operations Command, the Joint Forces Command and the Joint Warfare Analysis Center." There are also "discussions" going on to bring in "non-DOD federal agencies" such as the FBI.
This is the infrastructure for an Orwellian police state. It must be shut down!
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Links from Wired News:
Title: Whistle-Blower's Evidence, Uncut
URL: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70944-0.html?tw=wn_index_2
Description: Article releasing documents from AT&T regarding NSA wiretapping.
Title: Why We Published the AT&T Docs
URL: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70947-0.html?tw=wn_index_3
Description: Article explaining why they published these documents, even though they have been sealed by court order and cannot be verified 100%, etc.
PDF format of the evidence
http://blog.wired.com/27BStroke6/att_klein_wired.pdf
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Fox News is also right on top of the civil rights issues of today. They have a wonderful video called "Stop Right There!" which debates whether or not cameras at red lights are an invasion of privacy. Way to go, Fox News. Way to go. I'm sure glad at least one major news agency is looking out for our rights on these highly important issues.
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And now...a picture, for your viewing pleasure, of what's really important...
User Reviews
Submitted by JohnGalt (user info) at 2006-05-24 14:45:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2006-05-24 03:59:28 (#)
Ranking: -2
nope
bone up on your constitutional law a bit instead of using half-assed paraphrases to justify your non-point.
BTW the law of the land supercedes whatever telecommunications act you pull out of your arse.
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nope
bone up on your "Patriot Act" equals "constitutional law" thought process a bit. And what "half-assed paraphrase"?
and what is the "law of the land" in this case? And how the fuck does it supercede the US Code?
BTW stop wiping your ass with the Constitution
Submitted by AsshOly (user info) at 2006-05-24 04:23:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I guess it's a waste of life to say 'I dont care' in any more words than three. So
I dont care.
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2006-05-24 03:59:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
nope
bone up on your constitutional law a bit instead of using half-assed paraphrases to justify your non-point.
BTW the law of the land supercedes whatever telecommunications act you pull out of your arse.
Submitted by Chazzy (user info) at 2006-05-23 10:49:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
blah blah blah
Submitted by lojope (user info) at 2006-05-23 10:11:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It makes me sad that more people don't get bent out of shape about this stuff.
9/11 sucked. It happened shortly after my dad left NYC, and at the time I had no idea if he had gotten out or not. One of my best friends was at NYU. I was scared and so was everyone else. I don't want terrorists to attack America again.
But I would rather be "at risk" of attack than watch the systematic dismantling of the freedoms this country was founded on. And I sure as hell would rather be "at risk" than watch the people of this country sit on their couches voting for American Idol while it happens, and dismiss it as "the cost of safety".
I'd rather be free than safe any day of the week.
Submitted by georgemichael (user info) at 2006-05-23 01:13:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by dr_weazel (user info) at 2006-05-22 18:30:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2006-05-22 13:29:44 (#)
Ranking: 2
and Barbaro is not "some horse"
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So what is it then? A cat?
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-05-22 17:28:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
I used to work next door to the AT&T building they are talking about.
Oh, and you're an idiot.
It's okay for companies to gather and sell personal info about you for simple profit but if the gov't has computers analyze data for word patterns THAT MAY fit certain criteria AND MAY lead to the request of a legal wire tap or other surveillance you get bent?
Jesus, man, choose your fucking battles.
Submitted by Kirbage (user info) at 2006-05-22 17:12:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
'Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter'
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2006-05-22 16:58:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Heh.
Faggot.
*waggles eyebrows*
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-05-22 16:44:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
wanna makeout?
Submitted by a_reader (user info) at 2006-05-22 16:43:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2006-05-22 16:37:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
And I didn't assume anything. I asked if the picture was edited.
Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough for you.
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2006-05-22 16:32:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I have been to the CNN page and it isn't a rotating story, its permenant.
AND that IS the front page. You can tell from the URL, the CNN site has different urls for linked stories.
And I still don't see anything about a bear, and it definately isn't the main feature and I noticed you conviniently avaoided responing to my point about.. SO THE FUCK WHAT?
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-05-22 16:17:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
no, you're an idiot for pressuming to think that the biggest story in America is about a horse.
I noticed how you conviniently did address the the idea of rotating news stories or perhaps the horse story was linked from the front page and even now the front page on CNN is about NOAA and the upcoming storm season.
So you see you are an idiot because you assume things and throw out opinions based on a copied picture from the internet.
Nevermind dude, you'll never admitt that it was a pompous or idiotic statement to make.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
off on the right, picture of a bear's head.
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2006-05-22 15:58:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
The main news story I see on the BBC is about the Birmingha murderers.
I see nothing about a bear on that page.
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2006-05-22 15:55:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
And that IS the front page of CNN.
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2006-05-22 15:53:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Ok BBC reports on something to do with a bear at a zoo (I dunno I couldn't see the story, but I didn't look hard) so therefore I'm an idiot?
In that case...you are an idiot because I bashed my knee earlier.
Submitted by Coyote (user info) at 2006-05-22 15:53:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
As much as the civil libertarian in me *wants* to get bent out of shape about this, this shouldn't come as a surprise or an outrage to anyone. From the moment I started using networked computers I was always told never to send anything over a network that I wouldn't want my neighbors to know about me. If you're REALLY interested in bogging down a monitoring process, encrypt everything.
Submitted by firefly (user info) at 2006-05-22 15:32:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-05-22 15:23:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
damn fucking button....
anyway. DCWOODY what and incredibly stupid statement you made there first off most large news sites have rotating stories, second off that story on Barbaro was probably one linked from the front page because they usually don't use pictures that big on the front page, thirdly I think I just say a story about a bear coming to a German zoo on the BBC front page.
Stop making yourself look like an idiot.
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-05-22 15:20:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2006-05-22 13:06:21 (#)
Ranking: 0
Are you shitting me? The front page of huge american 'news' source and its going on about some horse which hurt its leg.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Submitted by cuberat (user info) at 2006-05-22 15:12:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It's amazing how un-free the people of the "leader of the free world" are.
Submitted by G-prime (user info) at 2006-05-22 15:02:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Although I am going to Leipzig this weekend... Hmm. Well, like I said. The more people there are on a list, the harder it is to monitor them.
Submitted by G-prime (user info) at 2006-05-22 15:01:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Har har, not funny at all. At least I don't live in East Germany.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2006-05-22 14:53:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I think just living in Germany makes you suspect.
When Sam went to the Soviet Union (oh yes back when it was the Soviet Union), he sent his history teacher a post card. When he got back he found out that sending him a postcard landed him on some kind of watch list. They're pretty sure that at least some of his mail was opened and resealed after that.
Submitted by G-prime (user info) at 2006-05-22 14:36:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I clicked it repeatedly, JUST to get on a watch list. The more people are on such a list, the harder it is for "watchers" to monitor anybody on the list. Lower their efficiency by overwhelming their capabilities. Besides, I'm a Canadian living in Germany. I'm pretty sure I'm outside US jurisdiction. That is, if I were a terrorist. Which I am. YOU HEAR ME, FBI? I AM A TERRORIST.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2006-05-22 14:28:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Forming a militia second amendment style is all well, find and good just as long as there isn't any sort of national disaster or anything because then that right will also be suspended.
You should be warned that clicking on this link will most likely put you on a watch list: http://www.saf.org/
Submitted by G-prime (user info) at 2006-05-22 14:15:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
oops, BB = Big Brother.
Submitted by G-prime (user info) at 2006-05-22 14:14:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
What I'd like to know is who is going to keep us safe from our own government.
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Buy a gun. Hide it in your house, somewhere you can quickly access though. Buy lots of extra ammo. Encourage your neighbours to do the same. If the government gets to the BB point, set up a neighbourhood militia. Isn't that the idea of the second amendment?
Submitted by G-prime (user info) at 2006-05-22 14:07:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2006-05-22 13:29:44 (#)
Ranking: 2
and Barbaro is not "some horse"
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Until he is in my phone book, or in a little plastic container in my desk, he will remain "some horse".
Submitted by JohnGalt (user info) at 2006-05-22 14:06:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
What I'd like to know is who is going to keep us safe from our own government.
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That's a damn good question. As far as people go, the majority seems to not care enough to fight back. What baffles me is how the majority can be the ones who are under-represented.
As for the major groups that should be doing something: The ACLU barely has any voice left at all, the Supreme Court is a puppet show, the Congress and Senate are so out of touch with what the people actually want that it's ridiculous, the media is worthless, the various other parties with decent ideas are either too extreme or just too underappreciated to overcome the stranglehold the Democrats and Republicans have on public office. Once again, in that case I mostly blame the people, but I also blame the media for helping perpetuate the idea that only the Democrats and Republicans have a chance. As soon as people stop believing that, it isn't true anymore. I'm sure there's some fancy philosophical term for that sort of argument, but I don't know what it is.
As for the Democrats, they're too worried about politicking, and the Republicans aren't quite mad enough about the complete abandonment of their own party's ideals to turn on Bush yet. Plus, they're the ones that got us into all this mess in the first place.
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2006-05-22 14:03:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i think the real question is..."who is john galt?"
but i don't know the answer, because i stopped reading atlas shrugged after 200 pages because it was a thick ass boring heavy piece of shit.
3 years ago, i invented a horseshoe which will prevent horses from breaking their legs from catastrophic injuries predicated by stress induced microfractures, of the type that barbaro encountered.
Submitted by _SuSpEcT_ (user info) at 2006-05-22 13:51:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
long, boring, and i dont give a FUCK
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2006-05-22 13:49:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I agree, but I don't think that people are making the same connection that you are. You also have to consider the absolute fervor that they created after 9/11. People who actually stoop to using terms like "freedom fries" are going to fall for the tactic of you're either with us or against us. As long as they can claim that this sort of thing is necessary in order to keep us safe from terrorists, people just don't care. What I'd like to know is who is going to keep us safe from our own government.
What I'm hearing in response to these allegations is a resounding yawn and/or the if you don't have anything to hide...
Yet they have not produced any terrorists that they've captured using these little tricks so I'd like to know exactly what they think they're going to accomplish.
Hell if nothing else, care about how much taxpayer money they are flushing down the sewer with this crap.
the party of small government indeed
Submitted by JohnGalt (user info) at 2006-05-22 13:39:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
By the way, the six figure hit total is still really weird. Even if it is only a fraction of the ridiculous MVA totals nowadays.
Submitted by JohnGalt (user info) at 2006-05-22 13:35:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I agree to an extent that the technology clouds the issue. However, I think there's a difference in when you can and can't expect privacy. For example, everything I've posted on here is not private, and I have no reasonable expectation for it to be kept private. In fact, I intentionally made it public. But...my emails, IMs, and phone calls to specific people are not public. I can't reasonably expect those people not to talk, but I can reasonable expect it not to be stolen in transit or given away by the telecommunications company because both of those acts are illegal. It's that reasonable expectation of privacy part that comes into play. I'll admit that it's tricky, but at the same time it's not. Anything the government can get to from a standard internet connection without bypassing a security system of some sort is fair game.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2006-05-22 13:29:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I think that part of the problem is that the technology is clouding the issue.
Say a team of jack booted thugs marched through the neighborhood, kicked in all the doors and searched all the houses. It would be pretty obvious that they had crossed a line. Monitoring internet usage though it nebulous and abstract.
I also think that people are more and more used to a lack of personal privacy. We all know that the company can read our e-mails and see what website we go to while we're at work. We know that there are places where our every move is on camera. Zeus only knows who all has access to our medical records. I have overheard people having rather personal phone calls in public. People put things on blogs and then are shocked when it bites them in the ass later.
Oh hell if you work in a cube, you don't have any privacy anyway. I don't care and know all about how the woman in the next cube is irritated because her hairdresser is always running late so she's going to someone else. I also know all about her baby's daddy's propensity to not pay child support and that her kid got in trouble at school for taking a library book without checking it out.
We're desensitized to it and in all honesty sites like this one are contributing to it.
101,497 people have clicked on a JohnGalt post. Are you sure that you don't mind all of them having access to everything you're written on here? I've got some things on here that could cause me some trouble or at least embarrassment if it fell into the wrong hands, sometimes I care and sometimes I don't.
and Barbaro is not "some horse"
Submitted by JohnGalt (user info) at 2006-05-22 13:19:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
ubmitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-05-22 12:48:01 (#)
Ranking: -2
According to the 4th amendment, the government is forbidden to conduct any unreasonable search.
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unfortunately for your argument, monitoring Internet traffic is a perfectly reasonable search.
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Says who?
From the Communications Act of 1934, as updated by Telecommunications Act of 1996:
SEC. 222. [47 U.S.C. 222] PRIVACY OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.--Every telecommunications carrier has a duty to protect
the confidentiality of proprietary information of, and relating to, other
telecommunication carriers, equipment manufacturers, and customers, including
telecommunication carriers reselling telecommunications services provided by a
telecommunications carrier.
Submitted by BranDo (user info) at 2006-05-22 13:06:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
The man said clean him up, so clean him up!
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2006-05-22 13:06:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Are you shitting me? The front page of huge american 'news' source and its going on about some horse which hurt its leg.
Submitted by Hilarity_Ensues (user info) at 2006-05-22 12:54:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Man, I can't wait to see ETS on the news when they get ahold of some of his stuff. I can say, I knew him when.
Submitted by wookie (user info) at 2006-05-22 12:52:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2006-05-22 12:45:16 (#)
Ranking: 2
I wonder how long it's going to be before we know the whole story about what all these people have been up to these past few years, if ever.
ps. If they kill that horse, I'm never watching another horse race again.
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As a former rider, seeing Barbaro's leg dangling like that was only slightly less painful than some of the breaks I've endured myself.
There was a time when that horse would have been put down right there on the track.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-05-22 12:48:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
According to the 4th amendment, the government is forbidden to conduct any unreasonable search.
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unfortunately for your argument, monitoring Internet traffic is a perfectly reasonable search.
NEXT!
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2006-05-22 12:45:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I wonder how long it's going to be before we know the whole story about what all these people have been up to these past few years, if ever.
ps. If they kill that horse, I'm never watching another horse race again.
Submitted by JohnGalt (user info) at 2006-05-22 12:44:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Make a movie? I can't even post a photo properly. I cropped everything but the web page, then apparently didn't save the file again. Oh well...at least everyone gets to see my pretty desktop.
Submitted by G-prime (user info) at 2006-05-22 12:41:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Make this into a movie, then I will pay attention.