Information is power; every dictator in history has recognized the truth of that statement. The Soviets controlled all of their media outlets in order to control the flow of information and ideas. The Nazis burned books and produced propaganda films like "Triumph Des Willins" (Triumph of the Will). The Communist Chinese restrict access to the Internet in order to "protect" their populations from subversive ideas.
On Monday we started receiving emails that indicated that eyeonalbuquerque.com was no longer available on city owned computers. At first we thought it was probably a snafu and that there was some temporary problem that would be cleared up shortly or would work itself out as these things often inexplicably do when the Internet is involved.
In order to be thorough, we decided to run it by our Eyes. Lo and behold our Eyes confirmed that the emails and posts we received seemed to be accurate. City employees using city gateways and computers were no longer able to reach The Eye at eyeonalbuquerque.com.
This clicked with some other rumors that we had been hearing about the wiretapping of city phones. Our Eyes have been hearing that in addition to blocking out the ever-lovable Eye, city officials (our guess would be with the Almighty Marty's approval) are listening in on conversations of city employees on city phones.
According to our Eyes, both Councilor Sally Mayer and APD Captain Conrad Candelaria have confronted CAO, Bruce Pearlman (of ABQ PAC fame) with these allegations. Of course Mr. Pearlman denied any such activity - which we would expect even if the allegations were true.
Look, the city has absolutely no obligation to provide access to Eye On Albuquerque. Since they own the gateways and have administrative authority over every city employee, there's nothing illegal about blocking access to a website. However if the rumors are true, the city could be looking at criminal charges for anyone involved with listening in to conversations without first obtaining a warrant to do so.
"The Federal Wiretap Act, sometimes referred to as Title III, was adopted in 1968 and expanded in 1986. It sets procedures for court authorization of real-time surveillance of all kinds of electronic communications, including voice, e-mail, fax, and Internet, in criminal investigations. It normally requires, before a wiretap can commence, a court order issued by a judge who must conclude, based on an affidavit submitted by the government, that there is probable cause to believe that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed. Terrorist bombings, hijackings and other violent activities are crimes for which wiretaps can be ordered. (The PATRIOT Act expanded the list of criminal statutes for which wiretaps can be ordered.) This authority is used to prevent as well as punish crimes: government can wiretap in advance of a crime being carried out, where the wiretap is used to identify planning and conspiratorial activities. Judges almost never deny government requests for wiretap orders."
It concerns us that the city may be attempting to control or monitor information; some of which is protected by law. If true, those involved are engaging in activities that are not only illegal but most feared by our founding fathers.
Tyranny, repression, subjugation, absence of liberty, are all kept at bay by the free flow of information and the ability to communicate confidentially. If it's happening here at city hall, we'd suspect that the Almighty Mayor knows about it. Even if he doesn't, it may be happening on his watch. Is this really the type Senator that New Mexico can afford to have?
Tyranny, repression, subjugation, absence of liberty, are all kept at bay by the free flow of information and the ability to communicate confidentially. If it's happening here at city hall, we'd suspect that the Almighty Mayor knows about it. Even if he doesn't, it may be happening on his watch. Is this really the type Senator that New Mexico can afford to have?
