On Sun, 23 Sep 2001 09:42:59 -0400 (EDT), Thomas Mueller wrote:
<snip>
> from Ricsi:
> the only thing were america is more liberal than europe is when weapons
> (guns ...) are concerned.
> And most europeans absolutely are behind these restrictions.
> Problem with this, especially in the USA, is that when they outlaw guns, only
> outlaws will have guns. Criminals in New York City didn't seem to have much
> trouble obtaining illicit weapons.
> Ricsi:
>> And the 'gathering' was allways used as a justification for NSA projects
>> like echelon.
> Sam Heywood:
>> I don't know in what context you are using the term "echelon". It has
>> a variety of meanings.
> Remember the thread about Echelon, the NSA project for snooping private email,
> on the Arachne list some time ago?
> There was also a debate on the merits of gun control.
I remember the discussion about government snooping of private
email. I don't remember anything about any special name being
given to the project. BTW, I just now returned from visiting
the URL given by Steve in another post on this subject today.
I found the information very interesting. I never was aware that
the government was indiscriminately snooping on private emails.
As far as snooping on diplomatic and military communications is
concerned, well, that kind of spying has been conducted by all
governments for thousands of years. Encryption is nothing new.
Julius Ceasar used encryption frequently. The code he used
was a simple character substitution scheme which is very easy to
crack. His system is known as the Julian Code. Thomas Jefferson
invented an encyphering/decyphering machine which produces code
which is just as difficult to crack as some of our most modern
and advanced encryption systems. Jefferson's machine was very
simple and easy to use, but it was very time-consuming to operate.
Some manufacturer ought to produce a replica of Jefferson's machine
and market it as a reproduction of an antique. I'll bet he could
sell many and make a lot of money.
BTW, also I remember the debate about gun control and I agree with
your reflections on the matter.
Sam Heywood
-- This mail was written by user of The Arachne Browser - http://arachne.cz/
