The United States becoming The Policed States is nothing new. Think about the TSA. There has been a fantastic number of reports of people being molested by TSA (Transportation Security Administration) agents, who screen everybody at airports — and last I heard, they began screening every passenger on buses and trains as well. The report there begins, “Think you could avoid the TSA’s body scanners and pat-downs by taking Amtrak? Think again. Even your daily commute isn't safe from TSA screenings.”

This kind of thing becomes really scary when they begin to screen the Internet. That is the last bastion of security and freedom of speech. Security fuelled by technology, and freedom of speech demanded by the public.

Today, Engadget reported that the US Supreme Court has helped the FBI “in its quest to expand its hacking powers.” The US Supreme Court agreed to the changes made “to Rule 41, giving judges the authority to approve remote access to suspects' computers outside their jurisdiction.” Rule 41 is titled “Search and Seizure.”

To quote from the US Supreme Court: The FBI can now use remote access to “search electronic storage media and to seize or copy electronically stored information located within or outside that district if: (A) the district where the media or information is located has been concealed through technological means...” These changes were proposed in 2014, and the Court has now approved them.

Which, going by the trend in America over the past few years, pretty much means that concealment in itself has become (or will become) a crime. Forget about gambling sites and such, which will soon become a thing of the past; redirect your site to a server in El Salvador? Crime.

This is yet another serious blow to us and our freedom. You know very well that if it happens in America, it’ll happen the world over.

Tags : FBI, Rule 41, Engadget