According to the government's own statistics, 1,800 innocent conversations are intercepted each and every time a wiretap or other form of electronic surveillance is placed. This seems curiously inefficient, even for government work.
There was a discussion on the radio the other day that indicated that some drug dealers really _are_ encoding data on their phones - though Clipper won't help at all. The author was talking about hanging out with undercover drug agents while doing research on a book about the Mob or drug dealers or whatever. He and the cop were in a bar where a bunch of high-level dealers were hanging out; many of them were on their cellphones having conversations about "The 'patio furniture' you ordered is here. We can get you the 'three tables' on Tuesday; would you like a couple of 'chairs' with them also?" :-) The dealers weren't bothered by the cops being there; their lawyers were over at the next table in case they were needed. #-- # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, Freelance Information Architect, stewarts@ix.netcom.com # Phone +1-510-247-0663 Pager/Voicemail 1-408-787-1281