On Tuesday 28 September 2010 00:02:32 Ian Clarke wrote: > http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/us/27wiretap.html?_r=1&src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB > > Its a proposal that would force all communication providers, including > software providers, to provide a back-door to enable wire-tapping. > > I strongly suspect it will go the way of the failed "Clipper chip" of the > 90s. I also think that there is a strong first-amendment argument that > requiring that communication software include a back-door is an infringement > of the first-amendment rights of the software author. > > In short, expect a major backlash. > > That being said, if it does go through it will force us to move any > Freenet-related development out of the US, unless we want to make it a > test-case. It may even mean that I need to give up my role as project > coordinator should I decide to remain in the United States. > > Whatever happens, the one thing that will never be an option is compliance > with this law (even if Freenet's current developers went insane and agreed > to install a back-door, the project would be forked in a millisecond). > > I expected better from Obama's administration.
One very bad thing about this, should it pass (which depends mostly on whether the Tea Party folk actually defend the constitution, which seems unlikely) and be upheld (which is a more plausible battleground) is that we are dependant on paypal. Even if we move outside the US, paypal would have to kick us, and nobody trusts any other service. Same would be true of Google Checkout; we might be able to get credit card handling from some non-US-based bank (like WorldPay), but it'd be expensive. Plus once it happens in the US it will happen everywhere else... Combined with laws in Europe allowing blocking copyright infringing sites (xenu.net? wikileaks.org?), things could get very bad.
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