FISA.

This is coolbert:

"America's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act . . . is an Act of Congress, which prescribes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and collection of 'foreign intelligence information' between 'foreign powers' and 'agents of foreign powers' (which may include American citizens and permanent residents suspected of being engaged in espionage and violating U.S. law on territory under United States control). The law, of course, does not apply outside the US."

This particular entry from the intelNew.org web site stimulating some comment regarding the American FISA law.

"Comment: EU wants to intercept encrypted VOIP communications"

"Additionally, VOIP [Voice Over Internet Protocol] data packets often travel through Internet networks looking for unused lines, which may not necessarily be the shortest route to their destination. Consequently, a VOIP source signal from New York to Los Angeles could easily reach its destination through, say, Reykjavik or Bogota. What is more, binary data packets often split, with different parts following different routes to a given destination and only reuniting at a switch close to the end destination."

This is part of the problem with the law [FISA] that says the communications of a US person cannot be intercepted without a court order. Two terrorists both at locales in Pakistan can be in communication with Internet Messenger [IM] and their communication packets via the Internet may actually be traveling through a router located somewhere in the U.S. Those electronic packets, even if a minor amount of them [even one packet for that matter] travel through that U.S. router make those two Pakistani terrorists US persons for the purpose of law and their conversation becomes inviolate. That specific law when written during the Carter Administration was written with old technology in mind and not the technology of the Internet.

FISA written at a time [1978] when the Internet, VOIP, Skype, IM , and other means of communication via home computers was not even contemplated or thought possible. Archaic and no longer relevant laws still applicable - - regardless of obsolescence!

We live in a brave new world the laws of which must be scrutinized every twenty years or so? Let the legislators decide but let them decide!

coolbert.