Not surprised but makes some of their comments about Snowden's revelations a bit hypocritical.

But in the Bettancourt affair,

Bernard Squarcini, the former director of the French domestic intelligence agency appeard before a criminal court on Monday, June 15, in the affair concerning the pen register of Le Moned (French newspaper). The juges, Sylvia Zimmermann and Alain Nguyen-The believe, as the Paris prosecutors that there are grounds to try Squarcini for "collecting evidence of a personal nature by a fraudulent, treacherous or illegal means" because he sought directly from the telephone company (operators) in July of 2010 the detailed bills (pen registers) of the cell phone of Gerard Davet, a le Monde journalist and of David Senat, the criminal attorney for the keeper of the seals (the Minister of Justice of France). Squarcini faces a possible sentence of five years in prison and a fine of 300,000 Euros.

Bernard Squarcini, l'ancien directeur central du renseignement intérieur (DCRI), a été renvoyé devant le tribunal correctionnel, lundi 17 juin, dans l'affaire des fadettes du Monde. Les juges Sylvia Zimmermann et Alain Nguyen-The estiment, comme le parquet de Paris, qu'il y a lieu de le juger pour "collecte de données à caractère personnel par un moyen frauduleux, déloyal ou illicite", pour avoir sollicité en juillet 2010 "directement auprès des opérateurs téléphoniques les facturations détaillées des numéros de téléphones portables" de Gérard Davet, journaliste au Monde, et de David Sénat, conseiller pénal du garde des sceaux de l'époque, Michèle Alliot-Marie. Le préfet risque un maximum de cinq ans d'emprisonnement et 300 000 euros d'amende.

http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2013/06/19/affaire-des-fadettes-bernard-squarcini-renvoye-en-correctionnelle_3432606_3224.html

Apparently Squarcini is now claiming to rely on a law that like some of our decisions concerning pen registers, was written before the advent of cell phones and the capacity to obtain the vast amounts of information on the relationships between people and from lists of their calls.

Squarcini just stole the information and then thought up the legal excuse for doing it is sort of what I gather from the article. But, the concepts are rather new to me and rather current usage concerning today's technology so my translation may not be the best possible. But the point is that Squarcini wiretapped during the Sarkozy administration and is now being brought to court over it.

Our government is wiretapping pursuant to secret laws and dealing with secret courts that are not foreseen in our Constitution. So, we shall see how long it takes for the French and American people to reclaim the rights that our ancestors fought for and that we, here, celebrate this July Fourth and that the French will celebrate on July 14.

We have a right to be secure in our papers. We have a right to be instructed on the charges against us in a criminal trial, to confront our accusers in a criminal trial (meaning to cross-examine them), to have the assistance of counsel, a lawyer, in a criminal trial. We have the right to speak to whomever we wish without the government having the capacity to know about it. We have the right to say what we want almost anything we want without the government arresting us for it or keeping a record of it. We have the right of assembly.

And above all, as this case of Squarcini in France will show, we have the right to a press free of surveillance from our government.

I am so sorry that so many on DU do not understand that this overly expansive surveillance programs decimates our freedom and all of these and other rights. What a sorry education some people have.

Sorry myself for my limited knowledge of the legal terminology and technical terminology in the article that I tried to translate. If someone understand it differently, please say so.

Is the guy who revealed all of this going to try to seek asylum in the US?

in the Bettancourt case, a huge scandal in France. The name of the man charged is Squarcini.

http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2013/06/19/affaire-des-fadettes-bernard-squarcini-renvoye-en-correctionnelle_3432606_3224.html

.

Why is nobody running around with their hair on fire over this, or is it only bad when the U.S. does it? Makes me think the French doth protest too much when it comes to spying. So now we have revelations about France and the U.K. Who wants to bet that we find out that all of Europe does it before this is through?

See BND and FRA law for more info.

named Squarcini, for wiretapping in violation of the law. They may be doing it, but whether it is legal is not yet determined.

http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2013/06/19/affaire-des-fadettes-bernard-squarcini-renvoye-en-correctionnelle_3432606_3224.html

Yes, 2006.

[url]http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/how_they_do_it/2006/02/wiretapping_europeanstyle.html[/url]

For Europeans, scolding the Bush administration for everything from Guantanamo to the Iraq War to secret CIA prisons has become a full-time job. But when it comes to the American scandal over President Bush's warrantless wiretaps, there's been a curious reaction from the other side of the Atlantic: silence. Where is the European outrage?

European restraint may arise from a fear of hypocrisy. The fact is that in much of Europe wiretapping is de rigueur—practiced more regularly and with less oversight than in the United States. Most Europeans either don't know about this or, more likely, simply don't care.
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The extensive European taps are not new developments, made in the heat of passion after the London and Madrid bombings. European governments have been bugging phones for decades. In theory, the European Convention on Human Rights forbids "arbitrary wiretapping," but, as we've learned in the United States, arbitrary is in the ear of the wiretapper.

The three worst offenders are not countries you would suspect of playing fast and loose with civil liberties: Britain, Italy, and the Netherlands. Italian officials conduct tens of thousands of wiretaps each year. Technically, judicial approval is needed but since judges in Italy are "investigative," meaning they act more like our prosecutors, there is essentially no check on law enforcement's ability to eavesdrop.

Either are less arduous mentally. Myopia or navel gazing give quick answers. Thanks for the link.

To see who could spy on more of their own people...

Snowden has forced a near global discussion on govt spying on it's citizens. It will be interesting to see where that leads us. Will there be a huge pushback? Will people yawn and say, "whatever".

all fuss over it to get it out of our systems (like we did after 9/11- 9/11 changed everything donthca know?). Then it will all fade away, and they will continue spying. The general state of things won't allow for much else. It's broken. That's my opinion. Oh, and nothing more will be said about the secret body of law thingy. The PTB need that, and they're not letting go of that. Just a quick political prediction.

They'll find some way to kick the can down the road.

Maybe an "investigation", some hearings, charge someone with a lengthy legal process, etc. Anything to please the masses. But the spying will continue. Why would they stop?

I bet that there's a lot of idiots lining up on the governments side to tell the peasants to lay down and shut up. Just enjoy your fascism!

By violating the rights of their citizens, yeah that's it!

what's next, Sweden probably does it too?

WHERE in the world can citizens have the right to privacy, workers' protections, single-payer health care, and a free press? I don't really think the USA meets that and DEFINITELY not France.