Since the open thread mentioned Salon's coverage of PBS's "Spying on the home front", I thought I'd mention that today (May 14th) is being referred to as "Spying on the Internet" day.
PBS appears to just be covering the spying topic from the FISA/warrantless NSA surveillance program perspective. But the expansion of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) is an enabler for much more than just listening in on phone conversations.
May 14th is the official deadline for cable modem companies, DSL providers, broadband over powerline, satellite internet companies and some universities to finish wiring up their networks with FBI-friendly surveillance gear, to comply with the FCC's expanded interpretation of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act.
The topic is pretty well covered in this Wired blog entry.
People regularly argue that the new requirements won't really increase the number of people subject to surveillance since it doesn't change the legal standard required to get a court order.
The blog entry argues against this stating:
That's wrong, of course. Making surveillance easier and faster gives law enforcement agencies of all stripes more reason to eschew old-fashioned police work in favor of spying. The telephone CALEA compliance deadline was in 2002, and since then the amount of court-ordered surveillance has nearly doubled from 2,586 applications granted that year, to 4,015 orders in 2006.
Big Brother is watching you!