User blog comment:Semanticdrifter/Digital Protest Against the FISA Improvements Act/@comment-5708279-20140205181125/@comment-24039133-20140205192115

Skyfiredancer, this isn't about whether or not their surveillance will harm anyone or affect anyone in any way, it's about whether they have the right to spy on us in this manner.

There's something to both arguments, but personally.. Due to past experiences, my trust in the fairness of these people has been rather seriously compromised. You can't blindly trust that the Government is going to use all of this purely for good things. I know a guy who the military tried to send into an ambush. He lost several friends. They wanted him out of the way because he had been involved in too much, knew too much stuff they didn't want getting out. I know it sounds conspiratorial, but personally I believe him. His experience shows that you can't trust those with power to use it purely for good.

There's a reason that we have this system of checks and balances. The founding fathers knew that there was definitely something to the phrase "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". I don't think that they should be able to sift through whatever online activity they want without being controlled.

Stepping off of my soapbox now.