The government has just made illegal wiretapping legal...

LooseCannon

LooseCannon

Enterprise-class aircraft carrier
Staff member
...in Sweden.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FRA-law

According to this, the Swedish government will now be looking over all incoming and outgoing internet connections for emails, and it may become illegal to call or contact Swedes via international phone calls.  All I can say is this: I am glad my girlfriend is moving to Montreal.
 
The coalition litterally forced their members of the parliment to vote yes even when they didn't want to. I am very very very very very very very pissed. The fuckers are basically removing my personal integrity without Sweden's citizens consent.

Oh, and a certain journalist wrote in his blog that all who voted yes can fuck off - And then some hotshot from Centerpartiet phoned his superior. Freedom of speech or what? I'm not too sure whether I want to live in Sweden anymore. 

They won't of course read every email (not enough resources - FRA will only have 1000 employees, and they're aren't allowed to do it either, reading emails from one Swede to another) but they'll do crossreferences on certain words and formulations associated with terrorists and so on.

This whole thing is really scaring me. Is the appropriate measure in order to "protect" our democracy by removing some of it's very foundation? Measures taken to avoid threats often become an even graver threat.

What's very "odd" is the fact that they worked on this law for one full year. When they realized they wouldn't get it through they reworked it and added some "protective measures" to their proposition - Within hours. Why this extreme urge to get it approved?

There's not much hope in the opposition either. All they've done is going "This is wrong!" without saying what exactly about it is wrong, and not what they're going to do if /WHEN they win the next election. So my guess is they won't abolish it either.  :S
 
What's more, this web traffic they're monitoring includes web traffic from Finland, since it all goes through Sweden) and other countries.  Because of this, TeliaSonera (mobile phone operator/internet service provider) had to move its servers away from Sweden (because of some technicality that the communication has to be confidential or something, I can't remember the details).  But still the majority of Finns' web traffic is now being legally monitored by the Swedes.  Even if the Swedish government wants to monitor its own citizens, it has no right to do so to those of other countries.
 
Invader said:
What's more, this web traffic they're monitoring includes web traffic from Finland, since it all goes through Sweden) and other countries.  Because of this, TeliaSonera (mobile phone operator/internet service provider) had to move its servers away from Sweden (because of some technicality that the communication has to be confidential or something, I can't remember the details).  But still the majority of Finns' web traffic is now being legally monitored by the Swedes.  Even if the Swedish government wants to monitor its own citizens, it has no right to do so to those of other countries.
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They moved TeliaSoneras servers because they want to "protect the customers integrity". Sweden's government has gone mad.
 
It's actually quite similar to the warrantless wiretapping law enabled by Congress recently.  I'm surprised there's so little outrage in Sweden about this, Yax.  I'd be livid.  In fact, as someone who communicates with Sweden daily, I am a little scared.
 
I agree too little noise has been made. But it's still the biggest protest actions in the history of Sweden. All for no good I guess. I hope the social democrates will flush the new law down the sewers where it belongs when they win the election. Not likely though.  :(
 
Yeah, I saw the headlines and the newsreport and the protesters and the rest of it. Damn silly idea of the coalition, they've sealed their own fate, nobody's going to vote for them when elections come round. And the reason why so little noise has been made LC is because this new law has been going round for about a year and I don't think anyone took it seriously enough.
 
Natalie said:
Yeah, I saw the headlines and the newsreport and the protesters and the rest of it. Damn silly idea of the coalition, they've sealed their own fate, nobody's going to vote for them when elections come round. And the reason why so little noise has been made LC is because this new law has been going round for about a year and I don't think anyone took it seriously enough.
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That, and the fact that they voted it through during a big soccergame. Sweden vs. Russia I think.
 
They won't of course read every email (not enough resources - FRA will only have 1000 employees, and they're aren't allowed to do it either, reading emails from one Swede to another) but they'll do crossreferences on certain words and formulations associated with terrorists and so on.
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The REAL intent of modern terrorists Yax. No bloodshed necessary. Just ensure that the werstern world's freedoms and rights are gradually stripped away from us to make our lives as miserable as theirs....
 
Deano said:
The REAL intent of modern terrorists Yax. No bloodshed necessary. Just ensure that the werstern world's freedoms and rights are gradually stripped away from us to make our lives as miserable as theirs....
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YES!  I totally agree with this statement.  Terrorists don't really want to kill us all.  They want us all scared to the point where we live in an Orwellian box.  To paraphrase my namesake's namesake, he who would sacrifice freedom for security deserves neither.
 
LooseCannon said:
YES!  I totally agree with this statement.  Terrorists don't really want to kill us all.  They want us all scared to the point where we live in an Orwellian box.  To paraphrase my namesake's namesake, he who would sacrifice freedom for security deserves neither.
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I concur too. And the thing is, they are succeeding. Hell, this whole terroristbusiness looks very much alike the communisthunt in the 50's.

Oh, did you quote? I recognize that one. Very true too. I think, you can have freedom without security, but you can't have security without freedom. 


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YES! Finally things are starting to happen. The Moderate Youth League's chariman Niklas Wykman has threatened to resign if Moderaterna (the leading party of the coalition, and also the bastards that made this law happen) don't distance themselves from the FRA law and abolish it. He says he cannot be a member of a party that endorse wiretapping and decided to introduce surveillance of the Swedish people.

The Swedish Prime Minister, also from Moderaterna replied with: "That does indeed sound like a scary party. Good thing that we haven't made a decision like that in any way."

Moderaterna are loosing support in their own party, since no such thing as the FRA law is in the party programme.
 
Re: Deano's awesome.

Deano said:
Yep, hence the name TERRORists
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I absolutely hate to sound like a right-wing talking points idiot, but the thing that petrifies the majority of terror cells that we are concerned about in the West is that fact that we have certain freedoms and certain inalienable rights, and the thought that those rights may be transposed into cultures with a less freedom-based agenda.  Admittedly, it's an issue that is infinitely more complex, but "not being like the USA" is a motivation for many of these cells.
 
I understand that privacy is important, so feeling uncomfortable or ashamed or angry (or whatever) sounds logical.

But afraid? Meh.
 
Forostar said:
I understand that privacy is important, so feeling uncomfortable or ashamed or angry (or whatever) sounds logical.

But afraid? Meh.
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You are missing the point.
 
Of course I'm afraid.  I have nothing relating to me to be afraid of, but the concept of government snooping in private communications with no reason, with no justification?  That is extremely frightening.
 
Forostar said:
You literally said: This whole thing is really scaring me
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Yes. But what I am scared of is not the actual restriction upon my privacy. But on how this is developing, how that hotshot from Centerpartiet DARED to try restrict that journalists freedom of speech, on how the government forced the coalitions parlimentaries to vote yes against their will, how only ONE dared to vote no, the fact that FRA's been doing this for 10 years, how the coalition were in such a hurry to get the law approved that they made 12 changes within hours, how it's been showed that the people of Sweden aren't in power, and neither is the parliment. It's been showed the parliment is merely a tool of the government.

Is that sufficient for you?

Edit: Oh, and that the opposition never really showed any sign they'll abolish the law when they win the next election too. That it's all a political play. And finally: That the government and parliment allows this to violate both the EU and the Swedish constitution.
 
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