Wiretapping Bill Passes Swedish Parliament, 143 to 138

Assar Bruno Boveri writes "Swedish lawmakers came down in favour of a fiercely debated surveillance bill in a vote at the Riksdag on Wednesday evening. Despite some cosmetic changes, Sweden's proposed surveillance law is still a monster, writes Pär Ström from the independent New Welfare Foundation." The Swedish newspaper DN (in Swedish; translations welcome) compares the implications of the proposed law with activities carried out by East Germany's Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (STASI).

Re:Obligatory

[Penguinisto]

Swedish Chef muppet jokes aside (damn, I'm old)...

There would likely be a lot less outrage from folks outside of Sweden, except for The Pirate Bay, Relakks, and a whole flock of other Swedish-related services that most of the entire Internet-using planet has an interest in.

/P

Re:Wha?

[The Fanta Menace]

This is what happens when countries vote in right-wing governments. Yes, that's right. Sweden has a right-wing government. Maybe not by US standards, but certainly by European standards.

Sad sad sad day

[Tazor]

This is insane. Newer thought this could happen in Sweden.

Now it will only be a matter of time before the government in my country (Denmark) will try to pass the same kind of law, i'm sure.

Tomorrow I'm calling my mobile phone company (Telia) and making sure that none of my calls are routed through Sweden.

I hope ThePirateBay.org will start to educate the swedish people on how to encrypt their communications, because they will need it.

Anonymous Coward

[Anonymous Coward]

The entire Swedish government (okay, a distinct 143+ members) have just proven they are extremely hostile to the will, freedom, and safety of the Swedish people.

They should be voted out of power immediately by No Confidence/Popular Referendum/whatever. Now!

What they have just done goes against Everything the public has told them! They only succeeded by suppressing all media outlets for months - something so blatantly and grossly corrupt does not call for grumbling; it does not call for petitions; it calls for the immediate dis-bandment of the parliament, and re-election of public representatives; NOW ! Today/Tomorrow/Within the week !!!

    Also, the dominant party must not be voted into office next election.

When I was young, I used to think...

[Ortega-Starfire]

...that the US government really had it in for its citizens. Then later I discovered that even now in this post 9/11 world, we in the USA don't even hold a candle to the abusive modern governments that are out there, such as the UK, Australia, Sweden, and more!

It makes me want to go into politics, try and change the system for the better, protect the liberties we still have here before even those get stolen by those in power, but each time I consider it, I think, "Do I want to let myself become like them?"

How does one change one's government without being corrupted by the system? This is not just a question for those in any specific country to answer, but one every man and woman must consider.

Re:Wha?

[ArcherB]

This is what happens when countries vote in right-wing governments. Yes, that's right. Sweden has a right-wing government. Maybe not by US standards, but certainly by European standards.

Yes! And the far left wing governments, like those in Soviet Russia, China, and Cuba are known for their championing of civil rights.

Hell, even the left wing states like California, where they want the government to control the thermostat in your own home are known for their personal freedom records.

Re:When I was young, I used to think...

[Anonymous Coward]

Do it.
Get involved.

If you don't, who will?
  Think about the children. Your children.

Seriously, bad apples are drawn to authority like hornets; we need you in there, bud.

Re:Anonymous Coward

[Anonymous Coward]

it calls for the immediate dis-bandment of the parliament, and re-election of public representatives; NOW !

You seem to feel pretty strongly about this. I do hope you are doing a little more than posting on slashdot.

Re:Wha?

[Arthur B.]

Actually, as is pointed out, the law was drafted by the socialists. The left has the worst possible track record when it comes to spying on people (nazis, communists, etc). Yes, the neocons are doing it as well, but that's a rather recent phenomenon, and if you ask me, they're left-wing.

Re:Wha?

[ArcherB]

This is what happens when countries vote in right-wing governments. Yes, that's right. Sweden has a right-wing government. Maybe not by US standards, but certainly by European standards.

Yes! And the far left wing governments, like those in Soviet Russia, China, and Cuba are known for their championing of civil rights.

Hell, even the left wing states like California, where they want the government to control the thermostat in your own home are known for their personal freedom records.

Only on slashdot, does the truth get modded troll.

I think this exchange is proof that RightBad=Insightful and LeftBad=Troll in the minds of some mods.

Remember, the first part of freedom is tolerating those that have different opinions than yourself and even defending their right to have those opinions. When I get downmodded for something like this, it proves to me that regardless of all the talk, /.'ers don't give a rat's ass about freedom of speech unless the speech agrees with them.

Re:Wha?

[Opportunist]

Umm... you are aware that the nazis ain't exactly what you'd call left wing, right? Just checking...

Re:Wha?

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

I think this exchange is proof that RightBad=Insightful and LeftBad=Troll in the minds of some mods.

Since mods are just regular people who have posted a few times, or even just meta-moderated sometimes, all you have done is say, "a handful of people out of the hundreds of thousands with accounts on slashdot hold simplistic political beliefs."

Wow! Keen fucking insight there. If it weren't for your magnificent pontification no one would have ever thought things worked like that. You should be on TV! Have you considered applying for Tim Russert's old job?

Civil disobedience

[j1976]

So far, the best suggestion I have heard for protesting against this law is to simply add [e-mail] to the CC of every single mail you send. Hell, they want the mail so let's just sent it to them directly. The amusing thing about this is that FRA is a government agency and that this is their official address. By law they are required to register and archive all mail arriving on that address so that citizens asking for a mail later on can get it.

Re:Obligatory

[AllIGotWasThisNick]

Møøse ...

Meat

Re:Wha?

[__aavljf5849]

Not so. They vote no, because they no the public does not want this. They are EXTREMELY happy that the centre-right goverment takes the hit for this, otherwise they would have to.

The socialists will now complain about this law all they way into goverment after the next election, when they will....do exactly nothing about it.

Just as with everything else they complain about.
That's swedish politics for you.

/. needs a "failureofdemocracy" tag

[plasmacutter]

This story and the many many like it where governments blatantly ignore the public will and go completely unpunished are making graphically clear the failure of democracy.

Granted the modern democracies are representative republics, but I think the continuous jury nullification in lynching cases in the early to mid 20th century already show that direct democracy will never produce a free society either.

Its back to the drawing board.

This is it Sweden.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is it Sweden. You're on the spot now. Step up, and fight this down. You take this one up the ass and you're going to be doing the anal dance for the rest of your life, and then the next generation will consider it the norm. It will never get better. You have to stop it now, there are no second chances.

YOU MUST DO IT NOW!

Re:Well...

[aliquis]

Canada here what do you want?

No, actually not, I'm a swede just wishing I was canadian.

Re:Well...

[rustalot42684]

Well, actually our government's about to screw us over too [slashdot.org]

Looks like you'll have to pick a different country.

Re:Wha?

[Plutonite]

Well, he's grouping the Nazis and the Communists together, which is hardly accurate, but then again it was called the Nationalist Socialist party, wasn't it? They combined the worst of socialist interventionism with nationalist/racial pride(necessitating means to goals). So he is partially right, I guess.

The "right wing" platforms, depending on what Right Wing means in your part of the world, tend to be geared towards less government involvement and more emphasis on freedom and natural states of welfare and resource exchange. Same for naive communist utopias, where governments do not even exist. Funnily enough, both ends of the spectrum seem to lose these ideals somewhere on the way to their optimal scenario, and instead turn into draconian nightmares. Libertarians, for e.g, are more "right wing" than the current evangelist hijackers of American government, yet look where we are.

It is best to just ignore labels and instead follow logic, science, and human experience.

Re:I foresee some interesting torrent developments

[Anonymous Coward]

Since the source code is not available for Skype, we have no way of knowing that they aren't cooperating with Bush, Sweden, or the RIAA.

Re:Wha?

[Heather D]

This is a textbook example of the continuing breakdown of the old right vs. left political structure. It's been known (by those aware enough to care) for years that the most significant difference between the two is that they oppose each other in which special interests they favor.

Re:What is wrong with governments today?

[Reziac]

And now instead of an Iron Curtain, we'll have an Electronic Curtain. Oh-so-much-more transparent, but every bit as evil.

Re:Wha?

[Amiga Trombone]

Not so. They vote no, because they no the public does not want this. They are EXTREMELY happy that the centre-right goverment takes the hit for this, otherwise they would have to.

The socialists will now complain about this law all they way into goverment after the next election, when they will....do exactly nothing about it.

Just as with everything else they complain about.
That's swedish politics for you.

Actually, this sounds astonishingly similar to American politics. Note, the Democratic Congress hasn't made any attempt to repeal the much-reviled Patriot Act or stop the war in Iraq, both of which they rode into office on...

Re:for those of us who can't read sweedish

[Fred_A]

Supposedly encryption applications like PGP are hard to break but with one or more computers in the million SEK range it will be possible to break everything from encrypted love-letters to journalist correspondance with protected sources.

"Supposedly" ? Has there been some kind of advance in mathematics I'm not aware of ? Or have computers suddenly gotten insanely faster ? Or do Swedish politicians expect to live for centuries ?

The best thing to do would be a huge campaign to promote high grade encryption all over the country IMO.
There are lots of vocal activists that could start this kind of thing.

Then the listeners can "supposedly" feel free to try and decrypt all that crud. It'll give their expensive servers something to do.

This is just so horrendous

[Cannelloni]

This is the end of democracy and what we used to call "the free society". I strongly object to this development.

I wish everyone would add this to their email sigs

[Cannelloni]

bomb bombing terrorist al-quaida torture islam muslim prophet's beard holy war monty python jesus allah john cleese muhammed fawlty towers evil great stan little stan ketchup gas