On 28 Sep 2001, at 2:20, Gary Nunn wrote:
> Take the face recognition software for example, unbelievably, people > are still opposed to this. I am opposed. It simply dosn't work well enough yet. It needs another 2-3 years development. At the moment, it returns some false positives. > But yet these same people demand that the > US government protect them from terrorist. They can't have it both > ways. I still maintain the position that if you are not a wanted > criminal (or terrorist), then you have nothing to fear from this > system. Yes, you have. As I said, it does false positives. > The debate rages on about the government monitoring email and net > traffic. Again I say, if you are not doing anything wrong, then who > cares if your email or instant messages are scanned? If they are only > scanning for suspected terrorist activity and connections, then you > have nothing to worry about. IF they limited it to that, then yes, I'd agree. However, there has been at least one case of commercial secrets being revealed by use of these systems. *I* do certain commercial deals over the internet. Also, there is encryption which can make a mockery of the scans - and this sort of thing will simply serve to drive terrorists (and me) to use it! Also, fex, I have am involved in ongoing online roleplaying game going on via E-mail and IM (EA's magestic takes the concept larger, but it's not doing anything not tried before). It involves one group of players plotting sabotage. Sure, it's SciFi and blatently so, but it wouldn't take much paranoia to crack down on it. One US participant has allready dropped out due to social pressure. (And is extremely upset he has had to) > At this point, two weeks after the terrorist attacks, you have to ask > yourself what is more important, freedom or security? Guess what, > terrorist in the US at this very moment have the very same freedoms > that we do. Are you willing to temporarily give up some of those > freedoms to help ensure the safety of your family and children? If you > are not, I think that I would be worried. You have to strike a balance. Look at Israel - they have lived with the threat for many, many years. Hell, look at England, with the IRA. We manage JUST fine, and without turning into a police state. America takes too much freedom for granted, IMHO. England isn't a police state, and yet it is sometimes called so.. Andy Dawn Falcon
