www.theglobeandmail.com, Oct 11 ’05    
Ottawa demands greater wiretap access

The federal government is demanding that the telecommunications industry build a wiretapping capacity into their networks that would allow authorities to conduct round-the-clock surveillance on the e-mail, Internet or phone use of more than 8,000 people at a time, sources say…

The bill to increase interception capacity is part of a larger “lawful access” that will include a new law on obtaining warrants…

“All you need is the ability to do something and it will be abused if there’s not enough scrutiny, and Canada has failed in that regard,” said Darrel Evans, executive director of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Association. “And the more you have this kind of increased power, the more you need to increase the power of your watchdogs.”

Just to illustrate the problem here that applies to so many other things that Canadians let their government do. A double-strike against freedom. Imposing costs on manufacturers in the form of special requirements, so that Ottawa can spy on private conversations. This drives the smaller producers of telecommunications technology out of business, raises the costs for manufacturers and consumers, possibly making the technology unaffordable for some, and drives criminals towards more secure systems. Wouldn’t this bill just have the same effect as all of us being robbed? Robbed of money or convenience. Robbed of freedom. Robbed of privacy. Can criminals disrupt our lives more effectively than the Canadian government? So criminals will be using their own technology while we suckers will be using the regulated technology. I don’t want my conversation duplicated. Is law enforcement meant to serve us or oppress us? So, any means is justified in order to catch criminals? No way.

(Original Post)