[DJ MacWoW]

Let me put this very simply, do you think NSA should be banned from tapping phones in Iran if the same technology could be used to tap a phone in Cleveland?

Your point is moot when they ARE using the "tools" against citizens.

Secretive court rules NSA can keep collecting phone records - January 3, 2014, 11:12 PM

A secretive U.S. spy court has ruled again that the National Security Agency can keep collecting every American's telephone records every day, in the midst of dueling decisions in two other federal courts about whether the surveillance program is constitutional.

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves. William Pitt

[DugwayDuke]

I’ve not asked whether the spy agencies should tap the phones of citizens. My question, which is pertinent to this article, is whether spy agencies should be prohibited from building tools to tap terrorists if the same tools could be used to tap citizens?

This is a simple ‘Yes or No’ question and whether the agencies are currently tapping citizens does not render the question “Moot”.