The most common for of spying for all countries is that for assuring payment of taxes. These agencies have dossiers, agents, informants and contractors (tax lawyers) which put the other spies to shame (and put as much fear in the oft-blamed spies as in citizens). In the US the main function of early spies was to catch tax evaders. Not to overlook that the birth of the US was about who got the bloodily-extorted taxes. No greater cooperation among world governments exceeds that for catching tax evaders. The few refuges stings. Tax laws allow far greater intrusion than those for national security. And terrified citizens are obligated to spy and rat themselves, family, neighbors, bosses, co-revolutionaries in particular. Taxpayers are paid bonuses for spying on and ratting each other, and jump to obey tax obligations, albeit with an acceptable amount of shaving the truth. Bribes are endemic, whistleblowers deputies of the state. Presumably the fashionista excitement of bitching about the rest of the spies is aimed at curring favor with the most persistenlty threatening of the TLAs which will swoop in like the angel of death to remind of the inescapable collusion of both death and taxes to meticulously spy on futile efforts to wiggle out of what is due. Discussing this topic can get a citizen is more trouble than viewing kiddie porn or whatever is the country's favorite fashionista criminalization Fortuitiously, terror was invented to payback tyrants for their overdue abuse of taxation; today, shilled as sequestration. Before being forfeited into submission Let us now honor the two brave and revolutionary cypherpunks sent to prison for defying the top spies of the way over-taxed earth. Hail Jim, hail CJ, fuck you Agent Gordon.