Europe weighs Echelon threat
The European parliament is evaluating the possible dangers of Echelon, a rumored U.S.-sponsored global surveillance network, according to a report from ZDNet France. Seven French deputies are reportedly on a fact-finding mission about Echelon, which the United States is reportedly mounting in cooperation with Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. According to a spokesman for Alima Boumediene-Thiery, French deputy for the Green Party, Greens in Parliament have already collected enough signatures from deputies to convene a parliamentary panel of inquiry that they hope will shed light on the UK's role in Echelon and determine why information on Echelon was slow to reach the European Community. -- Matthew Rothenberg, ZDNet News