Patrick Keefe is overly fond of disparaging "conspiracy" targets, among them John Gilmore, Duncan Campbell, Wayne Madsen, EPIC, EuroParl members, just about anyone who takes an balanced (!) view of governmental and corporate malfeasance. His book may not be TLA-sponsored but it could be read as an apology for the agencies, despite his avowal of concern for privacy in these days of overweening calls for more security. He repeats, and quotes other characters prattling, the formulaic mantra of how much privacy must be sacrificed for security, a sure sign that security will be favored and that privacy loss will be faux-regretfully mourned, a view mighty supportive of the TLAs. This tipping of the discourse toward more security at the loss of privacy appears to be the raison d'etre of the book -- not the only one since the security agencies went into a decline with the Cold War winddown, and then re-surged after 9/11 -- but his is the first to argue that Echelon and its new domestic offshoots may not be such a bad thing, both overseas and at home, and that a public debate about them is overdue. Keefe says of Cryptome: "The site is a good litmus test for your attachment to freedom of speech." He is not happy about excessiveness of any kind.