http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=16141&c=39

This Thursday, the Senate Commerce Committee will consider a bill to regulate telephone calls made over the Internet. One of the provisions involves sweeping new authority to regulate the design of Internet communications services to make them easy to wiretap.

If implemented, this plan would dramatically increase the government’s surveillance power and risk making surveillance and privacy violations much more widespread. It would force technology companies to build “backdoors” in their systems for wiretapping and thereby create weaknesses that hackers, thieves and rogue government agents could exploit to invade your privacy and conduct identity theft.

The government already has more than enough power to spy on individuals suspected of wrongdoing. This measure is the equivalent of requiring all new homes be built with a peephole for law enforcement agents to look through.

Follow the link and act now if you haven't already (use the FAX option provided!). There're less than 48 hours left!!! Pete

Luckily this issue does not affect everybody in the world. And although World Series Baseball only contains American teams (despite Cuba is probably better, let alone anybody else), I think that's a statement in itself. Yeah Yeah scaremongering PR, we've seen that in what... horror movies or 1999 or something. Nice to bring the point up & advertise & invite voters. All you there go along & support it! Do it b/c that's what the PR says you should do. Otherwise you'll live a paranoic life! (So what was suppose to be worse the so-called communists listening to all or the US doing worse. The cold war was such a farse, at least for the normal person & not the political minded. And who is affected so easily by politics anyway, those who go for the PR & its propoganda.) This is not the site for politics! Scratch this post! Nice point anyway! It's a bit late for me, I think I've missed my curfew. What's this got to do with LW?

Lord of the Rings - I'm sorry you're so un-informed as to what's actually occurring in the United States these days, Constitution and Bill of Rights-wise.

I suggest you go to both of these sites:

http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFreemain.cfm

http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp

and find out.

What this has to do with LW is this: Anything that impacts the developement/deployment of new technology, limits freedom or destroys any modicum of privacy we have left should not only concern you as an individual - but should be of serious concern to anyone who produces a program for communication of any type - because they will be affected by it - either through increased government regulation or requirements to build in back-doors or monitoring features before they're even allowed to distribute or keep the program flying.

Are you starting to "get" it now? Pete

Interesting articles & nicely abbreviated points. Did you write it. Personally I agree totally with what you're trying to do. My last post I'd been intending to delete anyway (2nd one I've recently written when I was falling asleep - my eyes were dropping out as they are now & I don't like talk'g politics at that time - sorry about that) but you responded before I got around to it. And yes, everybody should be aware & aware of its potential consequences. Strange nobody else has voiced their thoughts. But it still doesn't necessarily apply to 'everybody' around the world who uses LW. But it could definitely indirectly affect them.
I hope you get the numbers & succeed! Best of luck! Good to bring it to everybody's notice.
Careful abut referencing people: Oh & my name's not Pete! Can I call you Shirley.
(See what I mean. Joke!)