[FYI] ECHELON Conclusion [of An U.S.-Patriot]

["Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>]

http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?50+Duke+L.+J.+1467

--------------------------------- CUT ------------------------------

ECHELON AND THE LEGAL RESTRAINTS ON SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE: A NEED FOR 
REEVALUATION  

LAWRENCE D. SLOAN  

[...]

CONCLUSION

Given all of the above criticism of the current legal regime 
governing SIGINT activities, one might think that the author is 
firmly in favor of further restricting the capabilities of American 
SIGINT organizations. This is not the case. The services provided by 
these organizations are essential to the national security of this 
nation. Although the intelligence community, especially the segment 
involved [*pg 1510] in SIGINT, is necessarily hesitant to trumpet its 
successes, there can be little doubt that the information gathered 
via SIGINT operations has saved the lives of numerous Americans both 
in the United States and abroad.199 Systems such as ECHELON must be 
permitted to function in the most effective manner possible that does 
not unacceptably compromise the privacy and freedoms that are so 
important to Americans. It is understandable that this may involve 
some invasion of the privacy of American persons, but this is a 
balance that must be maintained. While the prospect of occasionally 
having innocent e-mail messages screened by a NSA computer is 
troublesome, the prospect of inhaling sarin gas on the New York City 
subway system is far more alarming. Given our democratic form of 
government, this balance must be dictated by our elected officials, 
namely Congress and the President.  

[...]  

--------------------------------- CUT ------------------------------