Post Office Gets Pressured to Pry

[radfringe]

Post Office Gets Pressured to Pry
By Ryan Singel
02:00 AM Nov. 12, 2003 PT

WASHINGTON -- Under political pressure to increase profitability and security, the United States Postal Service is introducing new technology that can trace the progress of mail from sender to recipient and record the identity of both parties.

Bulk mailers -- such as mail-order services, credit-card companies and online DVD rental services -- already use an "intelligent mail" offering to confirm the check really is in the mail and to speed up outgoing shipments of The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Critics, however, say new tracking technology could spell the death of anonymous love letters and anonymous documents mailed off in plain wrappers by whistleblowers. Intelligent mail also would create a massive data trail documenting intimate details of Americans' everyday lives, a rich vein that law enforcement would certainly want to mine.

----snip----

Attempting to identify each of the 6 billion pieces of mail sent annually would require a person to either buy stamps or mail letters in person with ID in hand, and would make it risky, or even illegal, to lend a stamp to a friend.

[truthisfreedom]

1. bigger brother

i remember a country i used to live in. it is no more.

[radfringe]

3. sounds like a variation of the STAMP ACT

will we next be required to have our mail "reviewed" by censors before we can seal the envelope?

[sventvkg]

2. Man, this sucks!! Where are the Couragious Dems to defend us?

I just want to point out the reality of Both sides here guys..It's not my intention to bash The Dems in Congress because i'm trying to be malicious. On the contrary, i'm overly critical of them because I expect more from them..Much much more and frankly they have let me down in a big way the last 3 years...And they are continuing to do so by and large...Someone, PLEASE counter attack the Facist Right!!!

[RC]

4. Come on people, get a grip

"Attempting to identify each of the 6 billion pieces of mail sent annually would require a person to either buy stamps or mail letters in person with ID in hand, and would make it risky, or even illegal, to lend a stamp to a friend."

How plausible does this even sound?

[jamesinca]

8. It is real simple

No mail is picked up from your house, only delivered. The big blue mailboxes on the streets are removed. Corporations will be given a break if company letterhead and envelopes are used, there will be a fine for private use if reported by the receiver. You think they care how long you have to stand in line at the post office? The object is to crush dissent and shut people up like the whistle blowers etc. It will also make things like the Dean letter writing campaign harder to pull off in future elections. The internet they can watch and read your e-mails, it will drive people to that out of conveineance. That is just my opinion, but I think they could do it easily.

[izzie]

5. This is crazy. It would take millions to put it in and then

what about who would watch it?Soon we will have 100% working just watching each other.

[cthrumatrix]

6. Write to your congressmen...this is pure BS

How can they snoop like this? What law allows this?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

7. this is fucking NUTS!

[Gin]

9. The inmates are running the asylum!

gin

[kayell]

10. Big Brother lives

They've been pushing for something like this since the anthrax attacks (yet another bennie for the BFEE of those attacks). It wouldn't require that they track every piece of mail, just the ones they are interested in, because of sender, recipient or some pattern of their choosing - say people who recieve a lot of mail from radical organizations like ANSWER, Earthfirst, United for Peace, the Sierra Club, or their local Democratic pary. More info to be fed into the big computers at Total Information Awareness.

[havocmom]

11. the push to close rural, "unprofitable" post offices is nasty too

I live over 80 miles from the nearest community that actually gets home mail delivery. Closing the local post office (which serves about 1200 people) would be a hardship on people. Most of my business is transacted via phone (which are assumed to be tapped here due to past problems) and the internet, which is know to be easily monitored.

If my Tiny Town is cut off, many others will be also. The network news is an oxymoron and radio reception is near zilch. Lots of people will be completely left in the dark if the post office gets any more limited and any less secure than it already is.

The Founding Fathers (and the Mothers) had to deal with great communication barriers. Guess they want to make the next rebellion at least as difficult.

Meanwhile, who sent the anthrax and why only to dems and media types who were not in lock step? Restrictions do not make us safer.