Wednesday, January 31, 2007

The Fear of Ideas

(ZDNet) The FBI appears to have adopted an invasive Internet surveillance technique that collects far more data on innocent Americans than previously has been disclosed.

Instead of recording only what a particular suspect is doing, agents conducting investigations appear to be assembling the activities of thousands of Internet users at a time into massive databases, according to current and former officials. That database can subsequently be queried for names, e-mail addresses or keywords.

Such a technique is broader and potentially more intrusive than the FBI's Carnivore surveillance system, later renamed DCS1000. It raises concerns similar to those stirred by widespread Internet monitoring that the National Security Agency is said to have done, according to documents that have surfaced in one federal lawsuit, and may stretch the bounds of what's legally permissible.

I am relatively convinced that someday, possibly someday soon, my online activities will come back to haunt me. How amazing is that? I have never done anything other than express opinions, opinions based upon principles I hold dear. My ideas are not widely read, and certainly have not influenced many - but I am still certain all the same that my name is inside of this massive database.

Bill suggests that perhaps he needs a new hobby....

Afterall, when your hobby is considered an enemy weapon system…. geez. Stalin once said, “Ideas are more powerful than guns. We don’t let the people have guns, why should we let them have ideas?” Well, it’s become quite apparent for those who can face reality that TPTB in the US have adopted Uncle Joe’s trite little outlook on the spread of ideas.

I fail to understand why anyone would fear ideas and words, no matter how much one might disagree with those words or ideas. Perhaps the fear itself speaks volumes about the moral rightiousness of those that express this fear with things like massive databases.

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." George Orwell

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