And just as stupid. I'm pretty sure real terrorists don't transfer information that is not encrypted to military levels.

Sure....your low end terrorist wannabees will chat on facebook believing they're safe...but they're the types that will probably find something more interesting to do in a matter of days. At worst, they'll blow off their own fingers accidentally while trying to get it right.

Meanwhile, uk.gov will force ISPs to up prices to afford recording data for them - recording this data is hideously expensive. Consider the cost of storage on .gov IT projects from their suppliers. It's slightly cheaper than that, but still hellishly expensive....

And of course...how long will it be before they start requesting this stored data to investigate lesser crimes than terrorism? RIAA?

Eve Online. That is all.

Personally I think the vast majority of the rioters were opportunists who were doing this for kicks or a few looting opportunities. However, shutting down an entire communications network is overkill - sure, when people arrange and commit crimes using social networking, arrest them and throw the book at them. But when you stop people communicating because you fear what they're saying, that's when your real riots will start.

Selfish reasons though - I own shares. If the US had defaulted, then every economy would be even more of a mess. Unfortunately, when one large economy takes a big hit, it seems the rest of the world does. Meanwhile, with the Euro looking dodgy, on a global scale this is a sticking plaster. At least I've got time to sell those shares and buy something worthwhile!