-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- .............................................................. >From the New Paradigms Project [Not Necessarily Endorsed]: Conspiracy Shopping Cart: http://a-albionic.com/shopping.html From: J. Kent Hastings <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [LeftLibertarian] Echelon unveiled 2/21/00 Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2000 11:09 PM From: "J. Kent Hastings" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Since Y2K was a big flop everyone's back to double digit years. OK, how about a single digit instead? It would save 50% of carpal tunnel inducing year-writing. Then we could have a Y2.01K scare and sell off the survival gear in the closet. But I digress. This Echelon system and the bogus "hacker" attacks are only making the Net's immune system stronger. Here's J. D. Tuccille's latest from http://civilliberty.about.com/culture/civilliberty/library/weekly/mcurrent.h tm ----------- Echelon unveiled Dateline: 2/21/00 Slowly, painfully, like pulling a senator off an intern, the details of the National Security Agency's long-fabled Echelon snooping system are being dragged into the open. We're finally getting official acknowledgment that the system exists - and that it's been used for some unsavory shenanigans. It's about time, too; Echelon's day in the sun may be ticking to a close with a host of imitators on the rise, and the system's technology beginning to get a bit rusty. This week, the European Union parliament begins debate on Echelon, and on how to respond to the espionage threat posed by this long-standing electronic waterglass pressed against the walls of the world. The system, maintained by the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, has long been accepted as fact on the continent, even as America's mainstream media voiced skepticism that our spies would ever get up to such naughty doings. The cat started clawing its way out of the bag a few years ago when a few New Zealand spooks suffered pangs of conscience and spilled some interesting details to a writer named Nicky Hager. After that, Patrick Poole produced a report for the Free Congress Foundation that exposed the snoops' soft underbelly for an American audience. Soon, a British journalist named Duncan Campbell began researching Echelon for the European Union. Now, the ACLU runs a Web site that ties together much of the available information about the world's most widespread example of mass envelope-steaming (though the ACLU site pales in comparison to the info compiled by yours truly). Since the private reports began appearing one after another, grudging admissions that Echelon exists have begun seeping from official sources. Both the Australian and New Zealand intelligence agencies responsible for snooping downunder have admitted their role in the scheme, while research in the States has turned up explicit NSA references to Echelon. With a congressional investigation in the works, continuing U.S. government silence just seems silly. The motivation for those tightly clamped lips might be the can of worms behind them (and if that doesn't evoke an unpleasant mental picture, nothing will). Echelon has allegedly been used for much more than eavesdropping on commies and Carlos the Jackal. Intelligence intercepts have supposedly (and illegally) included political targets within the participating countries, including Sen. Strom Thurmond in the U.S. and members of the Thatcher-era cabinet in Britain. Of greater concern to the European Union is strong evidence that English-speaking spooks routinely turn over intercepted communications to favored corporations to help them maintain an edge against foreign competitors. In fact, Britain and the U.S. are being taken to court in France for commercial espionage. Of course, English-speaking countries are hardly the only offenders in the world. In the eyes of some Europeans, the Anglo-Saxons main offense seems to be their early mastery of the art of firing satellites into space to listen in on everybody's phone calls. The French themselves have been fingered for snooping on the business communications of British executives. Europe as a whole has been considering a proposal called ENFOPOL that would make domestic electronic spying an easy task for continental cops with a distaste for privacy. Sauce for the goose, right? And Russian officials haven't exactly lost their taste for hiding under the bed since the fall of communism. The KGB's successor agency is eagerly tracking domestic Internet use with a mandatory system called SORM that requires ISPs to act as surrogates for every bored cop with a nasty case of voyeurism. The only new development there is that average Russians can now raise a fuss and try to embarrass the snoops. Still, Echelon, with its five cooperating nations, decades-long track record, and gee-whiz technology is undoubtedly the big kid on the block. But that big kid is getting poked in the eye, and not just by publicity. The Echelon snooping system is a big, expensive system based on the assumption that most messages get transferred over phone lines or through the air in ways that aren't that hard to intercept if you have a few billion dollars to burn. The world is changing though, so much so that new developments like the Internet and cheap encryption technology are giving spooks a new set of headaches. What's the point of a billion-dollar satellite that can grab phone calls if corporate offices send each other scrambled e-mail? So the old technology is getting a bit moldy, while the folks running it are showing signs of terminal government employment - a disease characterized by an ability to really screw things up in spectacular fashion. The NSA suffered a much-publicized system crash in January, after Y2K knocked out the agency's satellite intercept capabilities for several days at the turn of the year. U.S. News & World Report followed up on the fumble with a report that suggested that "[l]arger and more hidebound than the CIA ..., the NSA has stubbornly resisted change." The European parliament debates may just turn out to be the modern equivalent of arguing over cavalry tactics just as Sopwith Camels and Fokkers started easing horseback warriors toward museum-piece status. But the snoops do have their Sopwith Camels ready to go. Echelon may be the focus of attention right now, but the U.S. Justice Department is pushing a new scheme called FIDNET that, we're told, will put cops online to track down those nasty hackers who're giving everybody such worries. Eager cybercops even tried to design easy wiretapping into the next generation of Internet technology before getting slapped down by the alert and leery geeks who make the Net a going concern. Something will succeed Echelon, sooner or later. There's just no telling yet if we'll hear about it before it's ready to take its own place on display at the museum of voyeurism. So you think I'm full of it, eh? Then go to the source: The new space invaders - National Post Echelon and UKUSA - Civil Liberties Spy system 'spammed' - E-mail Big Brother 2000 - Websearch Wiretapping: The age of the eavesdroppers - Free-market.net Echelon: America's Secret Global Surveillance Network - Free Congress Foundation Interception Capabilities 2000 - European Parliament The sound of silence? - U.S. News & World Report Echelon Watch - ACLU NSA Suffers Intelligence Blackout - Wired Echelon 'proof' discovered - Wired French spies listen in to British calls - Times of London Cyber safe or gov't surveillance? - Wired Thumbs down on Net wiretaps - Wired Russia's security agency said to penetrate Internet - New Jersey Online/AP ------------------- Fwd by Kent LitSpace, http://litspace.com A well lit space for litrachure. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Get what you deserve with NextCard Visa! ZERO! Rates as low as 0.0% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR, online balance transfers, Rewards Points, no hidden fees, and much more! Get NextCard today and get the credit you deserve! Apply now! Get your NextCard Visa at: http://click.egroups.com/1/914/1/_/_/_/951278990/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Community email addresses: Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Shortcut URL to this page: http://www.onelist.com/community/LeftLibertarian Shop for Cars On-Line: http://a-albionic.com/ads/srch.html Forwarded for info and discussion from the New Paradigms Discussion List, not necessarily endorsed by: *********************************** Lloyd Miller, Research Director for A-albionic Research (POB 20273, Ferndale, MI 48220), a ruling class/conspiracy research resource for the entire political-ideological spectrum. Quarterly journal, book sales, rare/out-of-print searches, New Paradigms Discussion List, Weekly Up-date Lists & E-text Archive of research, intelligence, catalogs, & resources. To Discuss Ideas: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://msen.com/~lloyd/ For Ordering Info & Free Catalog: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://a-albionic.com/formaddress.html For Discussion List: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] text in body: subscribe prj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> **FREE RARE BOOK SEARCH: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ** Explore Our Archive: <http://a-albionic.com/a-albionic.html> Every Diet Has Failed! What Can I do? Click Below to "Ask Dr. Kathleen"! http://www.radiantdiet.com/cgi-bin/slim/deliver.cgi?ask-1364 *********************************** <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
