US want access to European data retention

[MrDad]

Yeah' date=' you're right, western governments are no better, though I think they do it on a slightly smaller scale to their own citizens.[/quote']

 

Are you nuts??? How many thousands of British citizens are imprisoned or 're-educated' as a result of publicly protesting their government's policies and actions? How many Us citizens for the act of publicly protesting US policies? The same applies to the other Western countries like Canada or Germany. That cannot be said of China. The West is not perfect but you, I and most of those here do not cower in terror at the idea of disagreeing with our governments. We do not live to dread that late night knock at the door.

[Antipodean]

Yeah, I'd have to say that when it comes to liberty, privacy and all that, western democracies are still ahead of the game.

 

The thing is, I do feel that we're witnessing a slide away from those values. There are ever increasing examples, across the angloshere and the western world, where our privacy, liberty and civil rights are being encroached upon. Everybody here would be well aware of the justifications bandied about to justify these restrictions of our rights... terrorism, "hackers", music and televisual piracy, the threat of crime etc, with media and politicians whipping up fear of these respective threats into hysterical proportions.

 

 

I guess in the end, it's up to all of us to make sure that those democratic values are not lost.

 

As the saying goes... "Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty".

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a quotes to get ya thinking:

 

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

 

 

[TetsuoShima]

Yeah' date=' you're right, western governments are no better, though I think they do it on a slightly smaller scale to their own citizens.[/quote']

 

Are you nuts??? How many thousands of British citizens are imprisoned or 're-educated' as a result of publicly protesting their government's policies and actions? How many Us citizens for the act of publicly protesting US policies? The same applies to the other Western countries like Canada or Germany. That cannot be said of China. The West is not perfect but you, I and most of those here do not cower in terror at the idea of disagreeing with our governments. We do not live to dread that late night knock at the door.

 

Hence, the smaller scale.... ;)