&gt; That is quite literally Stasi. Not vaguely like, exactly like.<p>Come on. I agree this is ridiculous and unacceptable, but this kind of hyperbole only serves to make people discount the sentiment. The NSA has not tried to use this to suppress political dissidence. The Stasi themselves called the way they manipulated prisoners &quot;decomposition&quot;, and all evidence suggests it deserved the name. It makes the CIA torture look like juvenile detention.<p>Is that a possible dark future if this goes unchecked? For sure. But I think one of the main reasons serious anti-NSA sentiment and action has had trouble making it to the mainstream is that people say things like this that make most people write the movement off as a bunch of crackpot conspiracy theorists. I don&#x27;t think you are one, so please don&#x27;t talk like one.