Folks in Europe are now dealing with this:
http://www.laquadrature.net/en
We have this:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/20/internet.records.bill/
"Oh, but it's for the children! *sad puppy dog eyes*"
Looking at it in a broader context, at a time when the dwindling middle class (and our hapless progeny) is being RAPED financially just about everywhere in the First World via ballooning fiat currencies, governments are maneuvering into position to quash future dissent. Control of arms, communications, and the basic necessities of life all serve to ensure obeisance.
Most every place save the US is already disarmed. The Internet is under pressure, "for the children" and "to thwart those naughty music downloaders". Prices for food, fuel, etc will be a heck of a lot higher in a few years when deflationary contraction is done -- discretionary income for arms/ammo to be wiped out, whether AWB2 is passed or not. The unemployed will make use of "generous" guns-for-groceries programs when things get sufficiently desperate:
http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian...eave.The.Gun.Take.The.Groceries-2712651.shtml
With the vast welfare class cheering government handouts, and the middle class impoverished and too busy making ends meet, there won't be anyone left to stand in opposition.
Insofar as the privacy of Internet communications, I sincerely recommend that you good folks brush up on things such as these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Privacy_Guard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)
http://www.truecrypt.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_privacy
Thanks to the friendly software, having strong yet non-intrusive encryption for your hard drives and email requires minimal computer savvy.
If even a modest minority of people take care to protect their digital footprint, just as when a robber isn't sure who might be carrying, so the government is powerless to mount a cryptographic attack on such a scale, though doubtless your history of Google searches, Amazon purchases, forum activity and the like, is excellent fodder for a heuristic search to identify those with a distaste for KoolAid.
Mind you, I am not saying this is happening tomorrow -- no tinfoil here -- but the trajectory is unmistakable in the context of history. Rights are being eroded, and the yoke of financial control is tightening.
Protect yourselves -- digitally and otherwise -- and watch for more "Unemployment is freedom from the rat race! The electric city bus is better than having a troublesome car! Green and frugally enlightened living in HUD housing for everyone!" demagoguery from our Messiah and the Communist News Network.
http://www.laquadrature.net/en
We have this:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/20/internet.records.bill/
"Oh, but it's for the children! *sad puppy dog eyes*"
Looking at it in a broader context, at a time when the dwindling middle class (and our hapless progeny) is being RAPED financially just about everywhere in the First World via ballooning fiat currencies, governments are maneuvering into position to quash future dissent. Control of arms, communications, and the basic necessities of life all serve to ensure obeisance.
Most every place save the US is already disarmed. The Internet is under pressure, "for the children" and "to thwart those naughty music downloaders". Prices for food, fuel, etc will be a heck of a lot higher in a few years when deflationary contraction is done -- discretionary income for arms/ammo to be wiped out, whether AWB2 is passed or not. The unemployed will make use of "generous" guns-for-groceries programs when things get sufficiently desperate:
http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian...eave.The.Gun.Take.The.Groceries-2712651.shtml
With the vast welfare class cheering government handouts, and the middle class impoverished and too busy making ends meet, there won't be anyone left to stand in opposition.
Insofar as the privacy of Internet communications, I sincerely recommend that you good folks brush up on things such as these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Privacy_Guard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)
http://www.truecrypt.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_privacy
Thanks to the friendly software, having strong yet non-intrusive encryption for your hard drives and email requires minimal computer savvy.
If even a modest minority of people take care to protect their digital footprint, just as when a robber isn't sure who might be carrying, so the government is powerless to mount a cryptographic attack on such a scale, though doubtless your history of Google searches, Amazon purchases, forum activity and the like, is excellent fodder for a heuristic search to identify those with a distaste for KoolAid.
Mind you, I am not saying this is happening tomorrow -- no tinfoil here -- but the trajectory is unmistakable in the context of history. Rights are being eroded, and the yoke of financial control is tightening.
Protect yourselves -- digitally and otherwise -- and watch for more "Unemployment is freedom from the rat race! The electric city bus is better than having a troublesome car! Green and frugally enlightened living in HUD housing for everyone!" demagoguery from our Messiah and the Communist News Network.
