Let them get court ordered wiretaps

This and the following from today's BNA Internet Law Newsletter. More on the surveillance society among us.

The European Commission will propose mandatory logging by phone companies and internet providers of all emails, telephone calls and other electronic communication, Viviane Reding, the Commissioner for Information Society and Media, said on Tuesday.

Of course none of the member countries can agree on a uniform policy but they all want to introduce their own legislation. I haven't followed the issue enough to comment but this quote is enough to convince me it's a bad idea.

Civil rights activists, telecom and Internet firms want the member state bill scrapped or diluted substantially as they say it would be overly intrusive, costly and technically difficult.

And there's always the question as to who pays for it. Ultimately it will be the consumer who foots the bill for the invasion of their privacy.