"FBI to get veto power over PC software"

More power to "the man".

According to the three-page document, to preserve the openness that characterizes today's Internet, "consumers are entitled to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement." Read the last seven words again.

the commission have decreeed that Americans don't have the right to use software such as Skype or PGPfone if it doesn't support mandatory backdoors for wiretapping

LINK

Sadly, the only real surprise here is that this information was actually put in writing on a non-classified document.

Good thread Rancor. This is really more of an urgent constitutional/privacy issue than a political one - interesting move nonetheless. Spirited US netizens forking out tons of cash for norton,mcfee,za,pgp are just wasting it with this development and shouldn't be surpised at all if they soon find themselves surreptitiously penalized for their netspeak by suddenly being audited, profiled, investigated, fired, sued, or denied that dream vacation overseas when mysteriously placed on a no-fly list. Agencies demanding opacity for themselves wield mighty leverage over the transparent. A case of paranoia - I think not.

I used to work for McAfee (known as NAI back then )a year or so ago and I remember an edict that was passed down to av vendors from the FBI that demanded av vendors not detect certain keylogging and tracking programs that the FBI wanted to use.
Needless to say all the av vendors refused stating that if they were to leave an open door like that on their customer's systems and networks, it would not take long for hackers to exploit it and thus leave thier customers wide open.

I am fairly sure that this document will be met with the same skeptism from the software vendors.