I'm glad you wrote this post. I've been echoing it for so long that I'm annoying myself....but if people spent half as much time inspecting the NYT's piece, they would see that it clearly describes then kind of FISA procedure that Google has already admitted and that the "directly tapping" incidents that the NYT alludes to are not attributed to Google or FB or any actual company.
But the key thing is to not waste energy on the side issue...the grab for power should always be scrutinized, and it is not an issue as simple as "Vote in a new president and live like Richard Stallman" (though neither of those ideas are bad, either)
Call me jaded...but remember how angry and energized everyone was over Aaron Swartz's death? Just six months later and we hear nary a peep about it, not even a boilerplate response to the White House petition. This is the way it is with so many issues involving the law, people get bored or conflate the wrong things...a few months later, no one really remembers.
This is generally true, but what is an issue from where I stand is that companies which are building their reputation on pushing back against too much surveillance are cooperating with the government to make such requests cheaper, faster, and easer, which is to say ensuring we will see more of them.
The responsible thing to do is to require a physical document, hand delivered to an appropriate corporate agent or officer, with a manual, hard copy review process.
But the key thing is to not waste energy on the side issue...the grab for power should always be scrutinized, and it is not an issue as simple as "Vote in a new president and live like Richard Stallman" (though neither of those ideas are bad, either)
Call me jaded...but remember how angry and energized everyone was over Aaron Swartz's death? Just six months later and we hear nary a peep about it, not even a boilerplate response to the White House petition. This is the way it is with so many issues involving the law, people get bored or conflate the wrong things...a few months later, no one really remembers.