It's not quite that simple, and this is not constant wiretapping. I understand the threatening aspect of this, but there is another side too.
In the case of a valid and court-ordered surveillance, there does need to be a mechanism for law enforcement to actually perform the wiretap. Technology doesn't have to give bad guys an advantage just because the law didn't envision it years ago. If encryption and IP comms can be configured to make them untappable, is that really in our best interest?
Should terrorists be able to communicate with no way to stop them? I don't think so. I'm sensitive to the risk of abuse too, and I'm not sure I know where the exact balance point is... but there is a legitimate problem here that does need some attention.
Encryption is easy these days. We'd only catch the few terrorists stupid enough not to use it, and we'd probably catch terrorists that stupid in other ways.
correct, so long as this is through valid court orders - there is no issue.
now, that's not to say I haven't heard gonzales and DHS asking for historical logging of EVERYTHING, that idea is floating out there, and its crazy.
You don't understand. For the most part, IP networks ARE NOT "tappable" anyway. Depending on the physical nature of the network, it may be all but impossible.
Should terrorists be able to communicate with no way to stop them? I don't think so. I'm sensitive to the risk of abuse too, and I'm not sure I know where the exact balance point is... but there is a legitimate problem here that does need some attention.
I disagree, should we do EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to prevent terrorists? Let's ban talking, let's ban guns, let's ban flying, let's ban box knives, let's ban fertilizer... Obviously NOT. But the issue is apparently not recognized by you, and that it's this... The federal government has created a wish list of services they want your ISP and other service providers TO GIVE THEM. No compensation, no payments, nothing. When the federal government takes your land without compensation, we fight all the way to the supreme court. When the federal government takes my time, money, and requires me to provide services that earn me a living for free... YOU DEFEND IT. Of all places, you'd expect AT LEAST Freepers to catch on to the issue. I guess I expect far too much to figure people would think for at least 5 seconds before they side with Big Brother. Apparenlty not even Freepers care about the Constitution and our rights to not be robbed.