Why NSA Surveillance Will Be More Damaging Than You Think - James Fallows - The Atlantic

Excerpt from a timely James Fallows reality check

"In short: because of what the U.S. government assumed it could do with information it had the technological ability to intercept, American companies and American interests are sure to suffer in their efforts to shape and benefit from the Internet's continued growth.

• American companies, because no foreigners will believe these firms can guarantee security from U.S. government surveillance;

• American interests, because the United States has gravely compromised its plausibility as world-wide administrator of the Internet's standards and advocate for its open, above-politics goals."

Why NSA Surveillance Will Be More Damaging Than You Think - James Fallows - The Atlantic