>This is going to end badly for American Internet companies.
Agreed. Of course, it's going to end badly for Americans in general. The "undue burden on the government" reasoning has been used to weaken almost every right that we have. Police don't have to announce themselves before entering, or even have a warrant (if they get one later), because these things would constitute an "undue burden". It is a very strange loophole that the government uses, again and again, to break the law. My rights are worthless if they inconvenience a police officer. And in this case, a companies rights are worthless if they inconvenience law-enforcement.
I think it's time we hang up the "undue burden" loophole once and for all. The constraints on behavior our laws represent should not be conditional on convenience, particularly not on the convenience of law-enforcement.
I couldn't agree more. What an incredibly lame excuse. The problem with such wording as "undue burden," "probable cause," "reasonable suspicion," etc. is that the phrases themselves are so broad and ambiguous, they can and do end up being meaningless when interpreted in court. It's clear that the original intent of the authors is irrelevant when interpreting such phrases as is any semblance of reasoning or logic. The only thing left is the warring parties intentions and their rationalizations for intentional misinterpretation.
What's wrong with undue burden on police and government? The constitution itself provides for many such burdens specifically to prevent an overzealous government from overstepping its power. The courts can and have applied such arguments to specific portions of the constitution, generally with great success. What gives law enforcement the right to be free of undue burden anyway?
Agreed. Of course, it's going to end badly for Americans in general. The "undue burden on the government" reasoning has been used to weaken almost every right that we have. Police don't have to announce themselves before entering, or even have a warrant (if they get one later), because these things would constitute an "undue burden". It is a very strange loophole that the government uses, again and again, to break the law. My rights are worthless if they inconvenience a police officer. And in this case, a companies rights are worthless if they inconvenience law-enforcement.
I think it's time we hang up the "undue burden" loophole once and for all. The constraints on behavior our laws represent should not be conditional on convenience, particularly not on the convenience of law-enforcement.