"Gentlemen do not read each other's mail"

[Bill Frantz]

At  4:08 PM 1/25/96 -0500, hallam at w3.org wrote:
>>Why is he our patron saint? He was a government official coming out
>>against invasion of privacy. Isn't that what we are all after, in the
>>end?
>
>There is a considerable difference between running a government and being an 
>individual. It is not merely ethical for one government to read another's
>mail, 
>it is a duty.

I am not sure that I believe this line of reasoning my self, but here goes:

The US government is "owned" by its citizens.  Therefore US citizens should
have a high degree of protection from their government.  However, non-US
citizens do not enjoy this same high standard (not being "owners").  They
perhaps should enjoy a similar standard in relation to their own
governments.

Another way of putting it is that while gentlemen do not read each other's
mail, gentlemen read non-gentlemen's mail.

Bill