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Living Room / Re: Microsoft is Censoring MSN Messenger Chats
« Last post by 40hz on March 28, 2012, 06:04 AM »Now that all the major ISPs have agreed to "voluntarily cooperate" with the federal government's "request" to start actively spying on their customers' activities and communications, I think it's largely moot at this point.
Internet access is handled by private companies in the US. Access is not a public service. It's a private product offering. So there are ZERO constitutional safeguards in place, mainly because, in the absence of specific laws regulating private sector actions, US constitutional provisions only say what the government can and cannot do. Individuals and businesses are free to do whatever they want as long as there isn't a law against it.
It's a clever ploy. The US government has found a way to get around the US Constitution by getting businesses and organizations to do what the government itself has not been granted authority to do. I don't know what you'd call that. Maybe something like: Tyranny by Proxy? Or Proxy-Police State?
Since becoming a customer is considered a voluntary act regulated by a private contract, there's no constitutional restrictions on what those contract terms are - as long as they don't violate an existing law.
Now it's true that the US government could pass a law that attempts to protect your privacy when you're using the web or e-mail. But to quote a 9-year old female relative "That is so NOT gonna happen!"
It's a sad state of affairs. We're already well beyond the point of "locking the stall after the horse has been stolen" here. Now it's more like we're trying to do it after they foreclosed and took the entire farm away.
Internet access is handled by private companies in the US. Access is not a public service. It's a private product offering. So there are ZERO constitutional safeguards in place, mainly because, in the absence of specific laws regulating private sector actions, US constitutional provisions only say what the government can and cannot do. Individuals and businesses are free to do whatever they want as long as there isn't a law against it.
It's a clever ploy. The US government has found a way to get around the US Constitution by getting businesses and organizations to do what the government itself has not been granted authority to do. I don't know what you'd call that. Maybe something like: Tyranny by Proxy? Or Proxy-Police State?
Since becoming a customer is considered a voluntary act regulated by a private contract, there's no constitutional restrictions on what those contract terms are - as long as they don't violate an existing law.
Now it's true that the US government could pass a law that attempts to protect your privacy when you're using the web or e-mail. But to quote a 9-year old female relative "That is so NOT gonna happen!"
It's a sad state of affairs. We're already well beyond the point of "locking the stall after the horse has been stolen" here. Now it's more like we're trying to do it after they foreclosed and took the entire farm away.
