Relevant story:
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/microsoftpri0/2014/12/15/amazon-hp-ebay-join-microsoft-bandwagon-in-warrant-case/Amazon, HP, eBay join Microsoft bandwagon in warrant case
As extensively telegraphed by Microsoft, the company’s cast of supporters in its legal fight over a warrant seeking a customer’s emails just got a whole lot bigger.
Microsoft was joined by Amazon.com as well as Silicon Valley stalwarts Hewlett-Packard and eBay. Apple, AT&T, Cisco and Verizion, which all supported Microsoft in its lower court case, also weighed in again.
Google, a leader in the cloud-computing realm along with Microsoft and Amazon.com, was among the notable technology companies that haven’t weighed in.-------------
The NSA's goal is clearly to permanently save all electronic communications from everyone. It's now known they already do that for at least two countries (and I would not be surprised if Australia is one of those.) It's also not about finding 'wrong do-ers', or we would not still have Internet malware of any kind. It's more about pre-crime and thought-crime modeling and prediction. Listening to statements of US government pond-slime like Cass Sunstein is truly terrifying, when you realize these people are seriously attempting to implement that kind of far-beyond-1984 nightmare society.
Personally I bear in mind that an extreme dictatorship only has to eliminate about 10% of the population to suppress any chance of rebellion. The chief difficulty is getting the right 10%. Having a vast archive of all the meta-data PLUS everything everyone said over several years would be *exactly* the right tool for that purpose. Especially if covering years before most people realized how dangerous things were getting.
It's not what they now say they want to do with it, it's what they *will* do with it once they have their Communications Death Star fully operational.
Oh, and for those who think I have an unduly negative view of governments... the Australian government (NSW State and local govt, apparently under instructions from the Federal gov) have recently announced (effectively) that personal property rights no longer matter, and they will be relocating masses of existing homeowners whenever it suits government plans (and personal property investment profits.)
This is personal - if their plan goes ahead (and it will) I'm definitely going to lose my home and workshop.
See
http://everist.org/no-rezone/ (my site.)
You can't call it 'conspiracy rubbish' when the stinking plans are online on .gov sites, and there's a timeline of government actions and mainstream news stories going back to 2005.
When the law is used to spy on you, and divest you of your material assets, then there is no longer Rule of Law.
"Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience..."
-- John Locke 1690 2nd Treatise on Government Chapter 19 paragraph 222