This was sesnt to another list and thought all genealogy lists should see and each individual should act accordingly to help preserve your won privacy. I happen to know this person and he is a wonderful former naval officer and a patriot. Sarah ******************************** Big Brother is at it again. And again, I apologize to any who may consider this off-topic. I manage a number of lists myself, and I would not object to such msgs on them. Further, I have no other method of apprising you of this. Many recipients are involved in genealogy research. Did you see any columnist like Myra V. Gormley or Dick Eastman address the problem of the Carnivore, about which I addressed most of you a few weeks ago? Have you heard a peep out of NGS, FGS, or particularly Gentech, an organization supposedly promoting responsible use of technology in genealogy research? >From my tirade against Carnivore, I made a number of really neat new friends and probably a slew of enemies that didn't respond. I rec'd only one negative, that from a person that somehow connected the Libertarian Party who provided me with the alert with the Nazi party! This alert I am doing on my own. About a year ago the Justice Dept. asked the FCC to make a ruling requiring ALL cell phone companies to be able to track their users from cell to cell, and to provide that info to law enforcement agencies WITHOUT A COURT ORDER. This is not a TAP, per se, but an ability to track the movement of anyone using a cell phone. Now comes the ticklish part: Electronic privacy of this nature is a POLITICAL question as is the problem of the Carnivore. Those of you that over the years have supported the ever increasing role of gov't in our lives have large measure of responsibility in this affair. Only a bloated, over large, over funded gov't could conceive of and fund a thing like Carnivore, and not consider this newest contrivance a major violation of the Constitution. And in case you think I am calling your attention to only causes supported by political conservatives of which I proudly acknowledge being, this fight in the US Court of Appeals in DC is being led by the ACLU, not known for its right wing agenda. What to do? How many of you contacted your congressbody regarding Carnivore? How many of you saw Dick Armie's (my congressman) press conference on the subject? There has been no law passed, no funds allocated by Congress for this. It is purely 'rule-making' by bureaucrats. I would further suggest that those of you involved in genealogy make mention of this on the lists you are on, holler at the folks at RootsWeb, USGenWeb, FGS, NGC, Gentech ([email protected] -- these folks are so secretive that they won't post the correct email address of a single director --- and yes, now that you ask, I do have them.), 'columnists'. GET ON THEIR BACKS. There is still smoke coming from Carnivore's nostrils, tho he has been smote a blow. Ask the candidates how they stand on such issues, don't vote just out of blind party loyalty, and watch how they vote. Many of you have complained about the lack of 'privacy', going to riduclous lengths to eliminate names and dates of living persons, etc. from your d/b's..... Now do something about the continuing attack on REAL privacy. Thank you for your time, and again I apologize for not being purely 'on-topic'. Joe Sissom