>>If the motive is to give citizens the feeling that something is being done, it's just more political bullshit, but with unfortunate consequences. I can't think of any other possible motives. -- Peter Fairbrother <<
I think they face a dilemma as they traditionally relied on tapping phone and reading mail so of course they feel threatened by net communications,throwaway phones etc. They do have to give the impression of doing something and there's the real risk of making things worse.How? Well if you prosecute too many dumb dumbs then you drive the others into a higher level of security culture.You are actually publicizing your weaknesses. This seems to have occured in the first WTC trial. It is even considered a smart ass tactic of certain activists to provoke legal action with a view to publicizing these weaknesses.(search proffr) Two primary works in this increasingly critical area are the Cyphernomicon by Tim May and Netwars,chapter 4.RAND report.Arquilla and Rondfeldt. Another is 'assassination politics' by Jim Bell. The clipper chip battle can now be seen as a skirmish with the final countdown started toward 'high noon' in cyberspace.Even without the protection of the internet bubble economy and with a strong pr driven support for the (US) state,I would not bet any money on the Govt. winning.The entire world economy is now inextricably bound up with the www,there is no on/off switch anyway.The web treats censorship as damage and routs around. A hypothetical world Govt could conceivably make it difficult for certain communications but it would take an international 'golden shield'.The present US Govt is strongly opposed to the slightest loss of sovereignty which is good,it makes them easier to kill. Their best bet is to dissolve their borders and whip up scare campaigns against the likes of the four horsemen,terrorists,pedophiles,narco traffickers and money launderers.I can only see the latter alternative being canvassed at the moment. The singularity so many predict could easily involve a phase transition to crypto anarchy.The authorities are dammed if they do and dammed if they don't. After being responsible for the deaths of millions the state now faces its own demise,smart rats know when to leave a sinking ship.Are the ones now left so dumb? >>Each page is labeled at the top and bottom with: "FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY -- Not for Distribution Outside the Federal Government" Note that p31 of the National Priorities section is titled "Highly Secure/Trustworthy Computing." It has good things to say about Microsoft's Palladium project, and says secure hardware "is also critical."<< Stupid question.
