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Way too many open questions to know. However I have no doubt that the feds will eventually try to extend current telephone communication regulations into the Internet and to drag their wire tap authority along with them. They work very hard to assure that there is no form of communication between human beings that they do not have the legal authority to monitor and record. There was a recent thread about some guy who got pulled over for a traffic stop at which point the troopers pulled out the drug sniffing dogs and nailed the guy for large quantity possession. In that case the guy deserved to be busted but he challenged the ruling and the appeals court found that the odors emanating from his vehicle into the public were not subject to probable cause restrictions. Under that logic it would be fair game for the police to monitor the sound waves that exit your home and enter the public from vibrations on your windows (using laser based listening devices or parabolic microphones).

It is always safest to assume that any and all communication you engage in is subject to monitoring and that you, as the source, will be identified. All that means is that nobody should joke around about things that could result in them becoming the target of an investigation or a "person of interest" at which point the investigators have destroyed your life. In the context of this specific thread it is clear we should all assume our identities are knowable so we should never engage in discussions that we might regret later.

I concur with you on all the points you make in your post. I learned long ago, even with not-listed numbers, how easy it is for activists to get your phone number. Socialists and fascists in America scream silly about being "voiceless" and why they need to protect so-called "free speech". Well, Ward Churchill, for example gets paid over $100K/year to speak his mind: The rest of us not-s0-lucky, get targetted by "coincidences". Bet Vince Foster could write a whole book about "coincidences", and his involvement with the party of "free speech".