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."
"The government had cited the investigation of benefit fraud rings and pirate radio stations as two examples where the new powers would be used."
About time! Pirate radio stations has been a scourge to this country for too long I tell you, TOO LONG!
I just hope that Tony's reforms don't wreck the system entirely.
..this just means they're going to call it something different and pass it without telling us, but at least they said they were wrong, it's not often they do that.
The current government seem to be a bunch of control freaks. Gatsos, cameras everywhere, monitoring email, RIP etc.
I actually voted for them at the last election to make sure that the Conservatives were kicked out, but not again. I realised the other day that I was agreeing with some of the things the Conservative politicians were saying. It made me feel dirty. I'll be voting Liberal from now on.
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
but I dont need to know about it. I know there are secret government organizations monitoring what we all do, but I can;t prove that and they don't tell me, so its ignorant bliss. They are gooing to do it anyways, just don't tell me, and I will stay happy. (But I still don't want them to do it....)
Great Linux Site
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.
Its important to note that the plans have only been put off till Novemeber. Yes, the Government was a little shocked by the ammount of attention the changes to the RIP act got. But putting it off till November isnt likely to be about re-writing the changes, but more likely to give the government time to smooth the waters over with MP's so that come November no one notices when its voted on and passed.
The RIP act should be over turned completly, not expanded in any way shape or form.
"Enlightenment is your ego's biggest disappointment." --Yoginanda
David Blunkett has a method of getting what he wants:
1) Propose draconian unworkable legislation.
2) Await the huge opposion.
3) Retract the proposal and quickly pass original intended less-severe version while everyone is celebrating victory.
I'm serious, keep your eye on him. We must not let this sort of thing pass in ANY FORM. A single miniscule step in the wrong direction is too far. I will be continuing to push for the original unmodified act to be cut down to size also. I suggest you do the same if you live in the UK.
I like this line best:
"Mr Blunkett's son Hugh, who works in computers, is understood to have briefed his father on privacy fears associated with the original proposals. "
Noteworthy that a geek should teach a politician about privacy - an integral part of modern democracy.
I think the House of Lords is the best part of our democracy. It may seem counterintuitive that an unelected body enjoys this accolade, but it's true.
The House of Lords is made up of an eccentric bunch of old codgers. But that's one of the reasons it works. They might be eccentric, but they hold a few things dear and one of those is civil rights. It might seem undemocratic to have a bunch of unelected old loonies as part of the decision making process, but their long sherry-enhanced afternoons napping and discussing the rights of the common man are actually beneficial to the democratic process. Of course, I don't think this kind of set-up would export very well. Other places don't have the quality of barmy old fogies that the UK has.
Oh please, the date when the US started caring about terrorism outside its borsers is 11/9/01. The UKs been dealing with terrorism for a lot longer than that.
Slashdot is so frikking anglo-centric.
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
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
Look here for a more informed view, 1700 soldiers by April, and more since, including HMS Ocean (helicopter carrier), HMS Illustrious (aircraft carrier), and HMS Fearless (assault ship) as well as an auxiliary fleet presence (engineers, supply, etc,). Get your facts right.
Perhaps you have ideas about what to do, given your knowledge of the religious and territorial claims which stretch back over MORE TIME THAN YOUR COUNTRY HAS EXISTED in it's current form.
Perhaps also, if you stopped funding them (50% of IRA funds are USA-sourced) it would help stop innocent children from being bombed and murdered on their way to school in Northern Ireland.
We are self-sufficent. We could park a nuclear sub off any major city in the world and reduce it to a smoking ruin in seconds. No "missile shield" could help. A pre-emptive military strike against us would (and could) not prevent this.
At the end of the day, Mao was right in one respect: power comes from the end of a gun, and the UK is one of the most militarily powerful nations in the world.
Aside: Britain is one of the best submariner nations in the world. I've worked on some of the technical systems in modern submarines, and it's quite funny how different classifications affect what is shown... When everyone watching is classified for "UK EYES ONLY", the displays get significantly more detailed and informative. With a lot more relevant info to work with, the same
algorithms in the software can produce a lot more useful output
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!