I regret that after 37 years of reading the Wall Street Journal every morning that I have to break with their editorial stance for practically the first time. The editors do have a blind side and that is understanding the implications of Internet communication. This I believe has led to their current misguided stance on warrantless wire taps.
I will leave it to the freedom fighters at the Electronic Frontier Foundation to educate Congress on the implications of the proposed “compromise bill” coming up for a House vote today that would grant extraordinary powers to the President to conduct surveillance on US citizens without oversight. This is going to be horribly abused. Maybe the WSJ supports it because they will have so much fun exposing that abuse during future democratic Presidencies.
But there is a devastating economic impact from US spying on telecommunications that I can speak to thanks to my extensive travel overseas. Outside the US there is a pervasive perception that any email, phone call, or data transfer is routinely recorded and analyzed by the NSA. In Canada you cannot offer US based hosted services to businesses because they do not care to have their correspondence undergo the scrutiny of US spy agencies. The sad thing is that these fears are founded on reality. In Europe there are similar fears compounded by the belief that networking gear built by US companies have back doors built into them. Luckily that belief is unfounded. But the impact on the United State’s ability to participate in the global network economy I believe is hugely detrimental.
With greater and greater connectivity around the world the US is positioned to prosper in the information age thanks to an early start and extensive investment in infrastructure. Unfortunately, the US is missing a key element: trust. This lack of trust, brought on by the well documented sniffing of Internet traffic at an ATT hub in San Francisco as well as posturing by the Executive branch and supportive press like the WSJ, has created an atmosphere of fear that has done irreparable harm to the US’ ability to compete in the Information economy.
I don’t know if “calling your Congressperson” is effective. But surely, if you oppose the further erosion of our freedoms and ability to compete globally, you should speak out. Comment here. Write your own blogs, and support the EFF.
