US Wiretap Report Released 48
sTeF writes "According to the 2010 Wiretap Report (Pdf), released today by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC) federal and state requests for court permission to intercept or wiretap electronic communications increased 34% in 2010 over 2009. California, New York, and New Jersey accounted for 68% of all wire taps approved by state judges."
Re:mob (Score:4, Informative)
Had you actually bothered to read the PDF or the article, you would have known that most of these wiretaps (~84%) involved drugs, not terrorism. Furthermore, court ordered wiretaps are perfectly legal, ethical, and in keeping with the spirit of the constitution (provided, of course, there is due cause, and you have no reason to suspect that there wasn't. As I said, terrorism seems not to have even been mentioned in the vast, vast number of cases) and, you know, necessary. The pretty regular increase over the past 10 years is pretty much in keeping with what you would expect given the ever increasing prevalence of electronic communication via cell phones, IMs, etc. Nothing to see here, stop spreading your FUD. Its not the government using terrorism as an excuse, though they do that plenty of other times, its law enforcement doing what its more or less supposed to do, which is bust large, well-organized crime rings. Hell, the largest operation involved a corruption investigation. Woulda though /. would be all for busting corrupt politicians.
P.S. oh, and the number of intercepts actually went down in 2008 from 2007, and 2003 from 2002 (though only barely there), so please, get your facts straight. Using caps does not make your "facts" any less false.