Sweden to Pass Draconian Wiretap Bill???

[snot]

Man, I thought they were cooler than that.

"Sweden is on the verge of passing a far-reaching wiretapping program that would greatly expand the government's spying capabilities by permitting it to monitor all email and telephone traffic coming in and out of the country.

" here's a broad outline:

"The En anpassad försvarsunderrättelseverksamhet bill (which loosely translates to "a better adapted military intelligence gathering") gives Sweden's National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) direct access to the traffic passing through its borders. Now remember, we're talking about the internet, which frequently routes packets though multiple geographically dispersed hops before they reach their final destination.

"This all but guarantees that emails and voice over IP (VoIP) calls between Swedes will routinely be siphoned into a massive monitoring machine. And we wouldn't be surprised if traffic between parties with no tie to the country regularly passes through Sweden's border as well, and that too would be fair game. (For example, email sent from a BT address in London to Finland is likely to pass through Sweden first.)"

(More at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/04/sweden_wiretap_bill/ )

[no_hypocrisy]

1. For a country that sells condoms where you buy newspapers, I'm truly surprised at this.

[sui generis]

2. well let's be serious here.

America can afford a jatrillion dollars a month for TSA, INS, Customs lunatics and DHS, the FBI, the CIA, and god knows what other black box sub orgs with inscrutable power.

Sweden has a limited population and comparatively limited economy. If the best use of national money is not to create four hundred security agencies to make sure we're all wiping south to north instead of north to south like here, then monitoring information is the next best thing, unfortunately.

It is a matter of practicality more than of principle. They are still charged with doing what they can to provide safety to their populace.

The possibility for abuse is certainly there; then address that instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater and having nothing at all in place.

What I would question is this: Sweden, do you have an unreasonable search and seizure clause and does this provide an exception? If it does, you are violating your constitution and should change it. If people therefore elect not to be citizens of Sweden, then you have made your bed and you should sleep in it.

I see bed people.