It has been almost five days since the airliner jets crashed and threw the United States of America into a state of grief, heightened security, fear, alertness, and anger.

While most people seem happy with the government's response to the attacks, many are starting to express concerns the government may try to use the situation to enact legislation which limits the freedom of the citizens of the country.

While it's perfectly understandable for government leaders to overreact to a situation like what we're faced with right now, it's important that those who understand the implications of some of this legislation speak out. Some of the legislation being discussed is counterproductive and just plain foolish even though it looks wise on the surface.

Criminalizing Encryption

Intelligence experts apparently are telling legislative officials that strong data encryption technology is giving criminals the ability to communicate information without any way for intelligence agents to intercept the underlying information.

They want to rally international support for encryption protocols which have backdoors for government use. In addition, all encryption in use today would be outlawed.

While I'm sure in an ideal world, purposely crippled encryption technology would make an FBI agent's job much easier, the proposed legislation has many flaws.

First, as is the case with government handgun and drug regulations, making it difficult for anyone to get their hands on the "good stuff," only opens up a black market. What reason is a criminal (or a would-be criminal) going to cite for using the government sanctioned encryption software over a non-crippled, illegal encryption software? His conscience? Criminals (and would-be criminals) have already compromised the normal standard of ethics by their behavior (and their thoughts) and probably wouldn't think twice about using illegal encryption software - especially if it means they can evade digital surveilance.

Airport Security

I watched a CNN interview with an air travel security expert who was lambasting the FAA's attempts to harden security for U.S. air travelers. I found myself agreeing with nearly everything she said. Prohibiting curbside checkin does nothing to deter terror. Asking flyers if they packed their own bags is not enough and has never been enough. Removing steak knives from airplanes is not going to do anything to deter terror.

So what is the solution? The expert's advice included getting real security staff at airports. She mentioned that in many other countries it is local, federal, or military officers which enforce safety at airports. She said this is because air safety is a matter of national security. Right now, most airports contract airport security to civilian outfits.

She also mentioned that safety should be top priority for all airlines and that flying customers would pay for the overhead necessary to ensure safety. She cited Israel's airline and airport as an example of an operation which, while more expensive than other airlines, has never had any terrorist activity onboard their planes. They hand-inspect all bags and I've heard from other people they run all bags through compression chambers as well.

And how about those Air Marshals? Bring them back.

While improved air travel safety is a good thing, I, personally, doubt the next terrorist attack is going to be executed the same way. These terrorists have already exploited weaknesses in our air travel security. While we may still have gaping holes there even after new restrictions are in place, terrorists are likely to pinpoint their efforts on another exploitable weakness we haven't noticed yet.

In conlusion

Some people might think I'm whining about minor inconveniences when I talk about compromising civil liberties in the interest of national security, but it's a big deal. More importantly than that, it's probably what terrorists want to do - incite fear into the minds of Americans so that we do give up what we tout the most.

For more information about the current events surrounding these issues, see the following links:

• <http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46816,00.html> -- "Congress Mulls Stiff Crypto Laws"
• <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wtcattack/message/93> -- John Perry Barlow of the EFF warns of loss of civil liberties
• <http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-000074176sep14.story?coll=la-headlines-nation> -- LA Times "New Safety Rules Praised, Panned"