At 10:46 PM -0800 12/21/96, Attila T. Hun wrote:
have no doubt: Bubba has no intention of backing down. Free speech, and private communication over open public lines, removes the power of the government to intimidate the populace; and takes away the media's slanted exclusivity.
It takes away a power J. Edger Hoover used very effectively. That is, the power to control Washington power brokers by tapping their lines and gathering dirt. While there are "institutional reforms" which have "eliminated these kinds of abuses", without at least a public audit which shows every use of FBI (etc.) wiretapping equipment, and a paper trail to back it up, we can not be sure. (This audit would require a separate escrow agency to keep the wiretap equipment and check it out to the FBI for use. It would also require that the equipment be complex enough that it can't be cobbled together with pieces from Radio Shack. Note that these restrictions are less severe than those Greg Broiles describes for convicted felons during parole.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Frantz | Client in California, POP3 | Periwinkle -- Consulting (408)356-8506 | in Pittsburgh, Packets in | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz@netcom.com | Pakistan. - me | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA