Massachusetts Wants To Make Surveillance Easier, While Texas Is Making It Harder
from the two-different-states,-two-different-views dept
It appears that Massachusetts and Texas are taking two rather different approaches to allowing surveillance of its citizens. Texas this week signed into law a bill that prohibits accessing emails by the government without a warrant. The bill is pretty simple: it goes beyond what the current federal law, ECPA, allows, in saying that if law enforcement wants to access someone's emails, they need a warrant (something that many of us think should be required under the 4th Amendment already). Meanwhile, it appears that Massachusetts is going in the other direction, pushing a bill that would make it much easier to wiretap anyone's phones. Specifically, the bill would do the following:1) Remove the requirement that an electronic wiretapping warrant be connected with organized crime, or indeed with serious crimes more generally. Potentially, even minor crimes like marijuana possession could become eligible for wiretapping by state authorities.All of them are deeply concerning, with the last one being potentially unconstitutional. But that first one may have the most immediate direct impact, since it would basically give law enforcement the ability to go after anyone they suspect of almost any offense and hit them with a wiretap. If you think that wouldn't be abused, you haven't been paying attention to how law enforcement (especially local law enforcement) has abused all sorts of powers in the past.
2) Double the length of an authorized wiretap, from 15 to 30 days.
3) Legalize mass interception of communications at telecommunications switching stations, rather than through individual wiretaps on individual phone numbers.
The EFF has put together a petition to try to get Massachusetts lawmakers to realize what an incredibly bad idea this would be.
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Filed Under: email, massachusetts, surveillance, texas, wiretapping
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huh...
At least that's what Family Guy keeps preaching episode after episode.
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Re: huh...
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Apparently liberal representatives are corporate shills in liberal clothing.
Actual liberals are all in favor of upholding the Constitution.
I can't help wondering if the spirit of Massachusetts is indeed the spirit of America if these are the kinds of laws they are making.
In any case, "More welfare" is the wrong approach to an economic downturn. What we need is "more jobs" to put more money into the system for public services. FYI, Massachusetts representatives, spying on us ain't a public service.
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We already know that government agencies are becoming increasingly efficient at manipulating language to suit their desires.
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Re:
Business is BOOMING in Texas.
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well, as long as they aren't reading my 'correspondence'...
searches and seizures of papers and effects has NOT been modernized to include shit that 99.99% of us WOULD consider as being covered under these inalienable rights...
fucking gummint is acting as if it ain't china ink written with a quill on handmade hemp paper in an envelope with a wax seal on it, then it ain't covered no more...
THAT is bullshit, plain and simple...
art guerrilla
aka ann archy
eof
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... Oh wait, she was cremated and her ashes scattered.
Well, then, her ashes are... um...
OK, I got nothin'.
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