Now, in light of recent disclosures and speculation as to the level of government surveillance of our Internet communications, one must wonder just who Mr Bush wants to hide is private communications from.

Are Carnivore's teeth just too sharp for the Prez?

Report: Spy-Plane Collision Caused By Turbulence Just as it appears that China and the USA have reached a diplomatic impasse over last week's collision of a US Navy EP3 surveillance aircraft and a Chinese Air Force F8 fighter jet, an explanation that might allow both sides to back down while saving face may have surfaced Find out more at 7amNews/ShockHorrorProbe...

Courts Versus The Net
Regular readers will recall that last year I created a bit of a stir when I published a link to a US-based website that carried information that had been suppressed by an NZ court.

This was related to the case of a rich US businessman who had been found in possession of drugs here in NZ but escaped a criminal conviction by making a large donation to a local organisation which deals with drug abuse.

Well the issue of the courts versus the Net have surfaced again -- but this time in a slightly different form and in the USA.

Readers Say (updated hourly) Bush no longer using e-mail... - David Yippee!... - Peter Have Your Say

Wired.com reports in this story that a US judge has forbidden the media to publish details relating to the case of James Bell who had allegedly stalked IRS agents.

The seemingly cyber-ignorant judge told the media that they may not report the names of jurors involved in the case -- but it turns out that this information was already on the web at website run by the federal court system.

Perhaps 82-year-old Judge Jack Tanner hasn't heard of the Internet yet -- although the defendant's Net-based activities compose a critical part of the case before him.

Our judges here in NZ may occasionally mis-read public sentiment or make the occasional borderline decisions -- but at least they're not this far off-base.

Perhaps it's time the US court system brought their judges into the 21st century -- or put out to pasture those who are simply too old to grasp the fact that lacing material on a website is an act of publishing.

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