Slashdot Mirror
Nationwide Snooping System Launched In India
knwny writes "The Times of India reports that 'India has launched a wide-ranging surveillance program that will give its security agencies and even income tax officials the ability to tap directly into e-mails and phone calls without oversight by courts or parliament, several sources said.'" Adds an anonymous reader: "What's chilling is the comments from senior officials indicating that parts of the program are already live, without absolutely any discussion in public about it."
They will just do it anyway, a bit more covertly perhaps. Public opinion is bullshit. The majority of us are against war (I assume), yet we are at war. We hate congress, yet reliably reelect almost all of them. Eh, that's politics for ya. Doesn't matter the country.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
The irony of governments paranoid enough to spy on their own people because they are out to get them is that the spying will make the people out to get them. It seems the adversarial relationship between government and citizens (subjects?) is often strengthened (as in creates further conflict) by the entity with the influence to create a more cooperative relationship. Having a more cooperative attitude and doing whats best for the state is what will keep governments stable and in power. The mindset of the government officials making these decisions seems like the frame of mind someone unfortunate enough to be inflicted with Paranoid Schizophrenia would have. This raises the question of how to we prevent paranoid people from getting into government roles?
"Snooping" is when your harmless 80-year-old neighbor peers out between the blinds to see who you've invited over to visit. The term "snooping" implies harmlessness, whereas government (and its fundamental tool of physical force) is anything but harmless.
What government does is called spying, because government is a coercive authority, not an equal.
This is similar to how the media constantly uses the term "cracking down" to describe oppression. The term "cracking down" not only implies good intentions, but necessity -- yet the victims of the "crackdown" tell a completely different story, every single time.
Soon it will be everyone.
You mean, Soon we will find it has been everyone.
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This is the real damage the NSA has done in spying on the American people. Now every other country feels like they need it, because the US does. In the west, it used to be bashed as something only oppressive regimes did. Soon it will be everyone.
The whole NSA spying is the knee-jerk reaction to terrorism and the stupidity of the US electorate who elected the politicians who enabled the NSA- every asshole in Congress who voted for the PATRIOT Act is as fault here and every person who keeps voting for those assholes is at fault too.
BUT, our assholes wouldn't have been able to do it if it weren't for other assholes who are under the impression that indiscriminate violence against people (terrorism) will allow them to achieve their goals. I mean, since 9/11, has ANY of Al-Qaeda's goal been achieved?
No.
The only thing they caused was further hardships on their Muslim "brothers", increased contempt of the religion they think they follow (Muslims, many look down on you because of Al-Qaeda and their ilk.), and more power to the despots that control their home governments.
Or let's look at the IRA. The best they got out of the English was a bone thrown to them.
Who's doing it right? Tibet.
No matter how hard the Chinese try, they just can't seem to make Tibet look bad. And why is that?
The Tibetans aren't blowing up towers filled with innocent people.