rishab@dxm.ernet.in says:
"In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by Yankelovich Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect the privacy of phone calls than to preserve the ability of police to conduct wiretaps. When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they opposed it."
Reminds me of the hilarious "How to lie with statistics". What 1000 Americans? The sort who read Time magazine? These are probably much more likely to be against Clipper anyway. Any Joe 6-packs? Probably not.
You are displaying not inconsiderable ignorance about Time magazine and about such polls. "Time" isn't terribly highbrow -- we aren't talking "The Economist". Furthermore, Time/CNN polls are random sample phone polls conducted by random sample by a fairly prestigious polling company and simply stuck with the Time/CNN "brand name". Those polled would not have been "Time" readers. Although you are correct in your later assertion that the information may have been presented in a slanted manner, it is likely that the sampling and statistical techniques were rigorous. Perry