German authorities bungle wiretaps.

[Jay D. Dyson]

On Wed, 6 Nov 2002, Steven Soroka wrote: 

> Which prompts the question, what the hell for?  Sounds like an
> incredible abuse of power.  Do you think they have 20,000 warrants to
> back that up?  If so, why is Germany so full of criminals?  hehehe. 

	One must keep in mind that Germany keeps closer tabs on what we in
the U.S. call "hate groups."  While Germans enjoy many of the basic
liberties that we do (freedom of speech, freedom of association), their
government has limitations on such when it comes to extremist political
philosophies such as Nazism.

	As a consequence, those who make noises about supporting such
reactionary political views are far more likely to fall under state
surveillance.  I'm sure that the net.surfing habits of a German citizen
also plays a role, considering Germany's blocking of a number of sites
across the world that are sympathetic to (or supportive of) fascism. 

	So it's not so much a matter of Germany having more criminals, but
that their government spends more time watching those who profess certain
ideas that ultimately got their nation bombed to rubble in the mid-1940s.

-Jay

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