RE: Mass-market crypto phones
"Clay Olbon" writes:
If I'm not mistaken (and I've been known to be from time to time :-), cell phones are already encrypted between the phone and cell tower.
He's mistaken, at least for analog cellphones in the US - digital cellphones (just starting to come in now) may have some form of protection. Before a law was passed, it was easy and legal to listen in on cellphones on most scanners and many ham radio outfits (and even some UHF TVs). Now it's merely easy. It's kind of pathetic - I'm sure that the billions lost to cellular fraud far outweigh the value of crimes that the LEA groups have been able prevent by preserving their ability to illegally eavesdrop on cell calls without a warrant. Peter Trei trei@process.com (standard disclaimer applies) Peter Trei Senior Software Engineer Purveyor Development Team Process Software Corporation http://www.process.com trei@process.com
On Fri, 22 Nov 1996, Peter Trei wrote:
It's kind of pathetic - I'm sure that the billions lost to cellular fraud far outweigh the value of crimes that the LEA groups have been able prevent by preserving their ability to illegally eavesdrop on cell calls without a warrant.
The LEA's are not intested in saving the public money. They are interested in preserving and expanding their power. If it costs $1,000,000 per wiretap, who cares? The government has men with guns that can always go out and extort more cash from the population. --Lucky
As Hayek reminded us 50 years ago, even democracies can evolve into a totalitarian state. Be ever vigilant, blah. -Declan PS: Over margaritas and enchiladas tonight, I was talking with one of the crypto-ITAR enforcers from State. I mentioned that I'd be going out of the country soon and taking my PowerBook laptop. Quite sincerely, he urged me to keep a record of when I left and when I returned for five years. You see, I have domestic Netscape Navigator on it. Wacky stuff. On Fri, 22 Nov 1996, Lucky Green wrote:
On Fri, 22 Nov 1996, Peter Trei wrote:
It's kind of pathetic - I'm sure that the billions lost to cellular fraud far outweigh the value of crimes that the LEA groups have been able prevent by preserving their ability to illegally eavesdrop on cell calls without a warrant.
The LEA's are not intested in saving the public money. They are interested in preserving and expanding their power. If it costs $1,000,000 per wiretap, who cares? The government has men with guns that can always go out and extort more cash from the population.
--Lucky
// declan@eff.org // I do not represent the EFF // declan@well.com //
participants (3)
-
Declan McCullagh
-
Lucky Green
-
Peter Trei