http://slashdot.org/features/00/07/22/176249.shtml
For those who are still so inclined to think that huge
organizations can some how muster the collective singular
mindset to pull together major conspiracies ...
Obviously there truth is somewhere in between, as this article
suggests. There are probably much smaller but wide spread
bureaucratic incompetencies and butt-covering, but the
centralized, one villian puppeteer will likely take a genius
to make it even half way successful.
That said, bureaucratic incompetence still has its price and
can do just as much damage as a single Dr. Evil. The key is
to ensure that process transparencies make it difficult for
anyone or small number of people to succeed. And the head guy
should still be the fall guy, not one of his underlings. This
make high level managers act far more responsibly than if some
scum staffer is always making it plausibly deniable.
Unfortunately, this is often in direct conflict with the need
for Official Secrecy Act and our U.S. equivalents. Therefore,
whistle blower statues need strengthening, as does more third
party witness protection, as does many other small steps to
allow abuses to come out. That is one major reason why crypto
must be universally freed.
(I still don't get why there were at least two readers who
accused me of being a cop ...)
Happy reading ...
Ern