If a court order is ready then a telco will log and track all calls or network use as needed and requested.
The issue with that is the number or device or network been tracked is now in a database at the telco.
The security services in the US, UK did notice that over the years when they put in request for tracking, their case falls apart.
The people of interest just escape or the flow of information stops. The telco, billing and legal system seems to ensure people of interest are able to see the lists of new networks tasked for surveillance.
To counter that many nations are rushing out to find contractors and hardware to try and get into the telco networks with no paperwork or court contact. Parallel construction is now been made easy and legal. If the security services can get into the networks so can ex and former staff.

None but some AC likes the Strategy of tension news reports. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re: "That would prevent moles."
Thats why traditional structures like family, extended family, village, tribe, cult, faith region or other aspects that can be understood.

That will not help if the device is cloned or out of sight for a while.
Or have free services in the area "How the NSA, GCHQ and crooks can hack mobile apps" (30 Jan 14) http://www.wired.co.uk/news/ar...

Then a person is of more interest as they know all devices face to risk of been cloned or having globally unique numbers recorded.
Buy an old laptop, replace the storage, load in Linux. Add some productivity applications.
Find a phone that is so cheap it can really only make a voice call and has few other functions.
The reason to ask for a power on is so that consumer grade devices look for a network.
A lot of unique numbers and other device details are sent out or can be requested by local networks.
That device is then recorded as been linked to travel documents and biometric data.

Re "Slippery Slope meet the Australian Government. This is going to be a wild ride all the way down."
Yes the tracking of ip and files would be legal.
The linking of an ip found to an isp and account would be legal.
Sending a letter would be legal.
Requesting who got the letters as part of discovery would be a free reverse look up to start finding accounts and files.
Every step of keeping a web history would be legal for the security services, police to any court requesting or allowing discovery on the letters sent.
Any ip from a isp in Australia connected to any file of interest could result in a real time database for later review.
Time for a good VPN.

Re "that sattelite and was thus was committed to slashing the cost of communications in Africa"
All the fees and peering costs would have been lost from big brands that just expect that cash flow.
So the good projects that give Africa independence get stopped.

None. The medical experts and other staff are protected.

RASCOM-QAF1? Africa is trapped by the need to have its telecommunications provided by other nations.

Russia had its N1, Buran or Angara projects. The US also had its own ideas about it can put into LEO.
Few nations have the skills or budgets. China will take its time like India and get every part of the production lines working well.
Then the next generation can build on that. Other nations just spend on huge projects and have to start again.

If "China is using all the R&D created" then China would have faced the same issues other nations faced when the flow of information gets too expensive to just copy.
China like India has not had that problem. Their staff understand their own industrial capability per decade.
"Ultimate high ground from a military perspective" is just a nice cash flow for US contractors selling services back to the US gov and mil.
The "US already has a space plane" that can be seen, tracked, predicted and understood by any advanced nation with anything interesting that could have been seen from space. Most advance nations know not to have anything that can be seen. Lots of nations do allow what is expected to be seen.
For other nations the US could just use a WB-57.
China is not seeking to be a technological giant and then face budget issues. China just needs to keep working on space projects.

Reliability was a problem in the early US and Soviet years. All the new German ideas needed to be understood and worked with under local conditions.
Operation Paperclip https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... gave the US a lot of German experts with no questions asked.
Over the years the US had to understand what was been constructed for them.
India had to build its own rockets and now has the local technology that is well understood and can be funded.
China faced the same issues with its advanced technology. Buy in or wait for local skills.
China now has the industrial capability and is ready to move on with its own rocket development at its own pace.
Different nations have understood to not out spend their space budgets.
A generation of the UK Skynet satellite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... would be the other way to do space science.
Buy hardware from the US and try and get local experts to work on a new UK satellite. When that fails just buy into an existing US satellite product.
Lots of nations have to learned to understand space science in different ways. Some have much lower budgets too.

The UK faced that years ago with its GCHQ links to the National Technical Assistance Centre, Government Technical Assistance Centre and other domestic efforts after the 1980's, 1990's.
Once the use of tech tracking enters the courts and legal system the tech tracking news is then public.
Sealed courts for every case with tracking? Hope parallel construction protects the role of contractor cell-site or other tracking?
A lot of interesting people can just stop using digital networks. All the mil, govs and their new contractors have set up is the ability to track digital networks globally.
Telco databases track consumers after a court order. That same database shows who is been tracked.
All the contractors can do is keep selling products that help law enforcement with parallel construction and try keep all investigations hidden.
That works well until open court or the press using FOIA finds the local use of extra cellular phone surveillance devices.

re " Do they elect a body to deal with it?"
Legal Experts: Stuxnet Attack on Iran Was Illegal ‘Act of Force’ (03.25.13 )
http://www.wired.com/2013/03/s...
It depends on the experts asked, who funded what and why.
Think of Sputnik. Nations thought airspace went up. Sputnik went over many nations but not much was said as spy satellites where going to be used.
A lot of different nations now have offensive cyber-operations funding and contractors. No much is been done to question that new concept.

Re Encryption is before.
A few products tried that in the 1950-1980. The US and UK govs always got the plain text they wanted long term.
Staff where turned, cheaper standards where set. The junk international standards and tame systems can be seen years later.
At some point in the consumer network the plain text is ready. At that point the backdoors, trapdoors are ready.
Product quality did not save the world from the tame standards.
Political leaders did not help. Experts did not mention much about junk standards. Was a lot said about tame encryption over the decades in the press?
The big brands did not seem to understand what was been done to their own networks.