The answer to all of this is to start using encrypted email and encrypted phone messaging. http://arstechnica.com/security/201...rstand-primer-on-elliptic-curve-cryptography/ This already exists on email through open source software: http://www.pcworld.com/article/254338/how_to_encrypt_your_email.html
I completely understand the concern, but the NSA simply can't allow this to happen. Strong encryption is identified as "munitions" and so IMO, it is most likely you would end up branded as a terrorist unless you were an authorized military user. In the 90s, a fellow wrote PGP which had a 1000 bit encryption software considered pretty much unbreakable at the time. Here is what happened to him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Zimmermann If people fiddle with the Internet too much, won't competitors appear? http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-br...n-defiance-of-the-us-centric-internet/5350272
there was once a bill in congress proposed by now retired senator leiberman which would have allowed the president to shut down the internet upon the slightest excuse. you can be sure the president would then use the pretext of some emergency to suspend all civil liberties. did it pass?
Why pass a law when you have a pen: http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Obama-seize-internet-emergency/2012/07/11/id/445083 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press...national-security-and-emergency-preparedness- I am not a legal expert but laws (along with telling the truth) appears to be passe. (The first casualty of war is the truth?) So who knows the precise intent of this executive order. I would think it very likely that the internet has some undocumented features or protocols other than http, https and smtp that pass messages along for government/military purposes and are needed to communicate securely in an emergency situation.
Tor for really private browsing: http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/really-private-browsing-an-unofficial-users-guide-to-tor
It is the scammers and other crooks the NSA ought to go after and not waste public money annoying the very people we would like to be calling friend. In our wildest dreams they might call us friend !! Well it would look better if they weren't being bribed to, I suppose. Those lying, thieving politicians use some hack attempts to try and control our very views and thoughts. What did that fool Bush say - " if you are not with us you are against us ". Bad one George you ended up in a minority of about 1.
For truly safe systems, you need to understand this: http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/184874/is-ken-thompsons-compiler-hack-still-a-threat
How the Feds asked Microsoft to backdoor BitLocker, their full-disk encryption tool http://www.reddit.com/comments/1m773a NSA has total access via Microsoft Windows http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/nsa-has-total-access-via-microsoft-windows/ I would not be surprised one bit if Apple has been asked the same for Mac OS