Ken Bass: Wire tap only useful for conviction (Was: SAFE Forum--some comments)

[Ernest Hua <hua@XENON.chromatic.com>]

> And here I'll comment on Ken Bass's excellent comments (there were many
> excellent points).
> 
> He pointed out that the driving force for crypto policy is probably the
> _law enforcement_ camp, not the _intelligence agency_ camp.

Ken pointed out that law enforcement had to have gotten enough
evidence prior to a wire tap request to show probable cause.
If this is the case, then the only usefulness of wire taps is
to improve the likelihood of conviction and not the detection
of potential terrorist (or child molestation or your favorite
bad guy) plots.

Therefore, it is important to cut through the rhetoric and to
challenge Reno and Freeh and others when they spout such non-sense,
unless they are foreshadowing an Orwellian state (where you might
as well expect a camcorder in every bedroom.  After all, the most
common case of child abuse/molestation/spousal abuse is in the
home.  Better protect the public!)

Ern