Actually, his statement was interesting and a masterpiece. While it is true that the access to communications is recent, the court orders for evidence have been around. What he "failed to mention" was that they have access currently which is unheard of in the past and that it is only that slice of life that would have "absolute nullity". Gee, don't they teach Propoganda 101 anymore? PHM Xcott Craver wrote:
On Sun, 12 Jul 1998, John Young wrote:
The New York Times, July 12, 1998:
[...]
but eliminate any risk of abuse by law enforcement. But if we do not allow for court-ordered access, for the first time in the history of this country a court order for seizure of evidence will be an absolute nullity.
This is an interesting claim. Surely it's only been in this century that law enforcement has ever had the kind of systematic access to communication that presently does. I'd say Louis Freeh is lacking in the history department if he really believes that Americans have never possessed as much privacy as strong crypto offers.
I'd also say he's missed a few history classes if he thinks that the world will blow up without him listening in.
-Xcott