I suspect that a lot of law enforcement agencies are worried about their budgets right now, and in response, they've made a point of going after easy targets with high publicity value: i.e. people who lack resources to mount a strong defense, and who are looked upon with suspicion by the mainstream. BBSs, Branch Davidians, and now health food stores, fall nicely into this category. To be a successful bully, you've got to find victims who can't fight back.
Nope, that's not it. If you can accuse a BBS sysop of a feloney, YOU CAN SIEZE HIS DAMN COMPUER!!!!!! And guess who gets the money from the sale of the (expensive) computer equipment....the LEA who "made the bust." Oh ya, and you come out smelling like a rose in ink too. Not a bad proposition for some District Attorney who wants to make a name for himself, hypotheticly speaking.
Further, if LawEnf can push a lot of hot buttons in their press releases about the raid ("kiddypornterroristdrugdealingmurphybrownpotatoe"), they can count on lots of media attention, which is always good when budget time comes... politicians are reluctant to put the axe to the heroes of the day.
Most laymen don't even understand what email is. So, "obviously those computer users are doing something illegal," so the thinking goes. And when the "authorities" say [insert your favorite subversive action], the average person believes it.
I also suspect that Big Brother is becoming peripherally aware that the uncontrolled, unmonitored, and extremely rapid flow of information via "new media" (a disreputable phrase, but there ya go) is a threat to the existing power structure. Alvin Toffler does a good number on this in "Powershift" (nice title, thanks a LOT, Alvin; why don't you just TELL the bad guys what's going on??!). The spooks and their bedfellows (ENCRYPTED OFFENSIVE STATEMENT FOLLOWS Bt Epspuiz Efoojoh mjlft up tbz, "Uif OTB dbo bmxbzt gjmm jo uif ipmft!" END OFFENSIVE STATEMENT) have always counted on being able to keep tabs on who's saying what, and to find and squelch troublemakers that get too far out of line. The proliferation of BBSs drastically increases the number of "pressure points" needed to control information flows in any meaningful way.
That scares the Hell out of em, I'm sure. BTW, am I going to have to compile Cryptographic Work Bench, or is this crypt trivial and I'm too tired to see it?
Add strong crypto to geometrically expanding information paths, and you've got a spook's nightmare. Not only does the head of the NSA have to hire new guys to monitor all the BBSs, but now he's got to buy a bunch more Crays to keep up with the crypto traffic. The poor guy must be swimming in his shorts..."My GOD! What if somebody SAYS something BAD and I DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT??!".
I'm not even going to touch this one.... +-----------------------+-----------------------------+---------+ | J. Michael Diehl ;-) | I thought I was wrong once. | PGP KEY | | | But, I was mistaken. |available| | +-----------------------------+---------+ | mdiehl@triton.unm.edu | "I'm just looking for the opportunity | | mike.diehl@fido.org | to be Politically Incorrect! <Me> | | (505) 299-2282 | | +-----------------------+---------------------------------------+