It may be reasonable for a court to order a wiretap from an ISP, but it should only be for a specific person and for a limited time and done under reasonable, sworn testimony, suspicion of real crime. That's the legitimate standard set by the fourth amendment. Keeping tabs on everyone is obviously unreasonable - it is expensive and potentially abusive. Private interests should not even be allowed to do the same and there are good ways to demand it.

The kind of laws that people demand are the opposite, that ISPs not be allowed to keep this kind of information because it violates the privacy of users. Almost all US ISPs enjoy some kind of government protection from competition, be it public servitude monopoly, frequency allocation monopolies or other exclusive use of public resources. This exclusivity can be used if government does not have the courage to do what is right for moral reasons alone. Open spectrum will eliminate the kind of centralization that makes it possible for government to demand records keeping in the first place, but it is becoming clear that surveillance and control are the reasons the US has such crappy networks.

I hate how people FUD Google and otehrs for making things available that others have collected for years. Phone companies have known where you are since the invention of cell phones and GPS has been a feature you can't turn off for almost a decade. Your ISP knows more about you than facebook ever will. Your grocer is busy selling you down the river too. Private companies like ChoicePoint have been collecting it all for Uncle Same for a long time too. Welcome to Database Nation, it sucks.

What can and should be done about it? The most harmful stuff is happening behind you back and it needs to be fought with good privacy laws. Grocers, ISPs and others should not be allowed to keep extensive records and should never be allowed to sell them around. The fourth amendment needs to be re-instituted in a big way, so that your tax dollars are not wasted chasing down political opposition. Facebook is not that big a threat because it can be and will be replaced with distributed and free software. It's only a matter of time before Facebook goes the way of GeoCities, AOL and other walled gardens. If we keep freedom in mind, the right answers will come.

Corporate and University intranets are already like this. There is no anonymity, privacy, right to use the facilities owned by all and everything is monitored. Prisons are like that too, but no safety is gained. It is your rights that protect you from abuse. No one gives these rights up, they are taken by force. It would be nice if these non free networks protected the rest of us from the Windows cesspool but we are all threatened as by the botnets that fester there, much as we are all threatened by enslaved people in places like China. The lack of freedom and dignity is exactly what makes the world dangerous.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. [the world will not remain] permanently half slave and half free. ... It will become all one thing or all the other.

Fight for your network freedom as if your free press and all your other rights depended on it, because they do. The rest of your freedom and safety fall with your ability to share with and learn from your neighbors.

The things you need:

• Cell phone
• Internet

The rest can go. In a pinch, I can lose the internet thing too - there's enough free internet for me to keep email and get my news. A land line, netflix and a few other services rate as way better deals than advert stuffed cable TV, which is next to unwatchable. Pay per view is compelling? LOL, dude. People are having a hard time paying their mortgage.