Re: Reflections on the Bernstein ruling

[Bill Frantz <frantz@netcom.com>]

At 10:46 PM -0800 12/21/96, Attila T. Hun wrote:
>        have no doubt:  Bubba has no intention of backing down. Free
>    speech, and private communication over open public lines, removes
>    the power of the government to intimidate the populace; and takes
>    away the media's slanted exclusivity.
>

It takes away a power J. Edger Hoover used very effectively.  That is, the
power to control Washington power brokers by tapping their lines and
gathering dirt.  While there are "institutional reforms" which have
"eliminated these kinds of abuses", without at least a public audit which
shows every use of FBI (etc.) wiretapping equipment, and a paper trail to
back it up, we can not be sure.

(This audit would require a separate escrow agency to keep the wiretap
equipment and check it out to the FBI for use.  It would also require that
the equipment be complex enough that it can't be cobbled together with
pieces from Radio Shack.  Note that these restrictions are less severe than
those Greg Broiles describes for convicted felons during parole.)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Frantz       | Client in California, POP3 | Periwinkle -- Consulting
(408)356-8506     | in Pittsburgh, Packets in  | 16345 Englewood Ave.
frantz@netcom.com | Pakistan. - me             | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA