Hi Riaz,<br><br>Why I think this is the case ?<br><br>It takes a bit of revisiting some history to set the scene. Who remembers, or has forgotten, the ATT-NSA spying net story between 2002 and 2005 ?<br>
<br>You can glance through:<br><br><a href="https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/att/presskit/ATT_onepager.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/att/presskit/ATT_onepager.pdf</a><br><a href="http://cryptogon.com/?p=877" target="_blank">http://cryptogon.com/?p=877</a><br>
<br>In a nutshell, an ATT technician discovers in 2002 that the whole ATT backbone traffic (phone, voice, data, web) is mirrored illegally to NSA. Once retired in 2005 he talks to newspapers, and after much effort gets an article in the NYT. EFF files a class action lawsuit against ATT. The Bush admin moves to kill the case, calling the State secret exception. Once Obama elected the new admin legalizes retroactively NSA's spying, and declares immune from prosecution all phone companies involved in tapping.<br>
<br>Ergo, Bush or Obama, same tricks. Whatever is illegal becomes legal if the president says so. A first step into dictatorship ?<br><br>The US is no exception. Many governments have deployed illegal and secret mass surveillance systems. Their motivation is primarily controlling political opponents. Their natural allies (and financial donators) are marketing organisations eager to know everything on everybody, i.e. controlling consumers.<br>
<br>If admins need justifications with their parliament (to get a budget) they conjure up terrorism, pedophilia, child protection, obscenity, social disorder, religion, IPR, what have you. It's the sort of decor adequate for painting spying as a public protection acceptable by the population or the political opposition, if any.<br>
<br>During the GW Bush admin the first three were the excuse. Now those slogans have lost emotional drive. IPR is the new excuse, supported by the republican opposition and their media lobbies, working on more drastic laws to protect their revenues. Since the market is international the US has to coax other countries to get on the bandwagon and adopt similar legal provisions, .. thus similar control systems (a bonanza for the US surveillance industry), and an easy way for NSA to collect other countries data.<br>
<br>Apparently this is part of what's going on under the TPP umbrella. It should be easier for the US to maneuver this limited coalition than the rest of the world.<br><br>Last July general Keith Alexander, NSA's head, became Cyber Command's Commander. You can google his recent declarations and interviews. He is dead set on security (read spying). It seems DHS was not good enough, as Cyber Command (read NSA) is now to coordinate all US departments for securing ALL networks (read domestic and abroad). Ok, he may have a dream.<br>
<br>All that leaves little else to be interpreted other than a determination to build a worldwide mass surveillance system centered in USA. IPR and other opportunistic lures serve as negotiation jokers for aggregating lobbies and other governments in the gang.<br>
<br>It will be quite interesting to observe what approach will be taken with China, India, Russia, and EU. ACTA 2012 won't be forgotten any time soon. New convincing arguments for IPR will sound deja vu. The prospect of US controlled mass surveillance will look as attractive as a scarecrow. Then, what else US can offer ? Probably rude arm twisting, a not unusual tactic in real politics.<br>
<br>I just read that EFF is up against TPP. Resistance goes on.<br><br>Cheers, Louis<br>- - -<br><br>More on the subject<br><a href="http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/SER_klein_decl.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/SER_klein_decl.pdf</a><br>
<a href="http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/SER_marcus_decl.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/SER_marcus_decl.pdf</a><br><font size="1"><i> The two previous documents were on the web for several years, and have vanished recently<br>
</i></font><a href="https://www.eff.org/issues/nsa-spying" target="_blank">https://www.eff.org/issues/nsa-spying</a><br><a href="https://www.eff.org/nsa/faq" target="_blank">https://www.eff.org/nsa/faq</a><br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_controversy" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_controversy" target="_blank">NSA_warrantless_surveillance_controversy</a><br>
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/one-us-corporations-role-_b_815281.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-karr/one-us-corporations-role-_b_815281.html</a><br><a href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/01/obama-sides-wit/" target="_blank">http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/01/obama-sides-wit/</a><br>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Klein" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Klein</a><br>
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/07/AR2007110700006_pf.html" target="_blank">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/07/AR2007110700006_pf.html</a><br><a href="http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/05/70944" target="_blank">http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/05/70944</a><br>
<a href="http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2007/05/kleininterview" target="_blank">http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2007/05/kleininterview</a><br><a href="http://firedoglake.com/2009/08/01/fdl-book-salon-welcomes-mark-klein-author-of-wiring-up-the-big-brother-machine/" target="_blank">http://firedoglake.com/2009/08/01/fdl-book-salon-welcomes-mark-klein-author-of-wiring-up-the-big-brother-machine/</a><br>
<a href="http://www.mainheadlinenews.com/video/qrBapXsLcro" target="_blank">http://www.mainheadlinenews.com/video/qrBapXsLcro</a><br><a href="http://www.technewsworld.com/story/60204.html" target="_blank">http://www.technewsworld.com/story/60204.html</a><br>
<a href="http://osdir.com/ml/culture.war.guerrelec/2006-04/msg00040.html" target="_blank">http://osdir.com/ml/culture.war.guerrelec/2006-04/msg00040.html</a><br><a href="http://www.dailytech.com/ATT+Accidentally+Leaks+Incriminating+NSA+Info/article2558.htm" target="_blank">http://www.dailytech.com/ATT+Accidentally+Leaks+Incriminating+NSA+Info/article2558.htm</a><br>
<a href="http://www.spamdailynews.com/publish/Bush_administration_to_intervene_in_ATT_surveillance_case.asp" target="_blank">http://www.spamdailynews.com/publish/Bush_administration_to_intervene_in_ATT_surveillance_case.asp</a><br>
<a href="http://www.infowars.com/att-whistleblower-spy-bill-creates-%E2%80%98infrastructure-for-a-police-state%E2%80%99/" target="_blank">http://www.infowars.com/att-whistleblower-spy-bill-creates-%E2%80%98infrastructure-for-a-police-state%E2%80%99/</a><br>
<a href="http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=74c_1243652643&c=1" target="_blank">http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=74c_1243652643&c=1</a><br><a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/obama-doj-worse-than-bush" target="_blank">https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/obama-doj-worse-than-bush</a><br>
<a href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/nsa-denies-wired/" target="_blank">http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/nsa-denies-wired/</a><br><br>- - -<br>
On Fri, Sep 7, 2012 at 8:30 AM, Riaz K Tayob <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:riaz.tayob@gmail.com" target="_blank">riaz.tayob@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Why do you think this is the case?<div><div><br>
On 2012/09/07 03:34 AM, Louis Pouzin (well) wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
But whatever happens in November, the next USG is unlikely to change policy on IPR. Watch out.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>