Slashdot Mirror
UK Reconsiders Expansion of Surveillance Powers
davecl writes "BBC News Online is reporting that the plans to allow a vast range of bodies to access email and phone records have now been shelved. They seem to have been surprised by the depth and breadth of opposition. The measures may surface again after November in the new session of parliament, but they'll be taking it much more seriously then. Looks like we may have scored a notable success here, but continued vigilance will be needed."
I have been getting increasingly worried about the fact that Labour can do what they like seemingly unopposed because a) they have a rediculous majority in the House and b) the opposition simply don't have a clue. It is a great relief that democracy worked in this case.
I raise my glass to all who, like myself, contacted their MP's and raised a stink.
EtF.
I hope you all visited the above site and used it to fax your MP. Don't forget to go back when the bill resurfaces.
--- Yx3 = Delilah ---
If you find the site slashdotted, it's because of the Korea/Italy game - it's the same servers they're using to give a live feed of the match report, and as it's just gone into extra time, it's likely to be congested for the next 45 minutes or so. Soccer fever is one of the very few things that can "slashdot" the bbc, I've only ever seen it once before, that was 9/11
And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour Isaiah 3:5
Uh... Where do you think the major NSA listening stations for the Eastern Hemisphere are?
Hint: there's one here, and another one here.
Reality is the ultimate Rorschach.
A home office minister on BBC R4 yesterday blurted out that the government were collecting the data anyway, regardless....check the story on The Register ...
While London in 1983 was in the midst of a time of relatively high terrorism, The experience of being in London for a US citizen was an interesting contrast. People were very mindful of left packages anywhere public. Paris was markedly more striking in the presence of guards armed with automatic weapons outside many embassies / banks. Only saw that once in London that trip.
In 1996 there was a very different feel. The presence of private security cameras was highly visible and I was warned a few times about elevated danger of street crime. London still felt far safer on ballance than any US city I've ever spent time in, but still much changed from '83, let alone '69.
In the US presently I think most of the population would welcome far stricter intrusions of privacy than what the government has actually opposed (which is still somewhat more than I'm happy about).
The UK has lived with visible levels of terrorism for decades, while for we in the US it's a pretty new adjustment. Don't know how that affects policy or people's actions on a daily basis, 'cause I don't live there.
Linux is Linux, if One need clarify their dist: <Dist>/GNU Linux
bsds are of course just BSD