Juries 'should hear phone taps' to nail crime gangs

[Ken Brown]

Charles Lindsey wrote:

> OTOH, for case B, where RIPA does apply, there is no secret to keep.
> We all know how it was done. They walked into the telephone exchange
> / telehouse / sorting office, waved their warrant, and attached their
> crock clips / monitored the traffic through the routers / looked into
> the POP mailboxes / opened the envelopes, and all with the active
> assistance of the technical staff at those locations. It is no secret
> that, given that sort of access (and the Official Secrets Act to keep
> the facts concealed) you can do *anything*, and in a nice comfortable
> environment with cups of coffee brought round too.
> 
> So what is there to hide, beyond the fact that a warrant had been issued
> and acted upon?

Public confidence in the voice phone system. BT would hate the idea that
its subscribers had such access pointed out to them. We know that they
can listen to any conversation they want to, but people in general never
think about it.