I think these lies absolutely matter. It's a war of propaganda that can lead to real legislation. I think the "PATRIOT Act" (and the "USA Freedom Act", for th

I think these lies absolutely matter. It's a war of propaganda that can lead to real legislation. I think the "PATRIOT Act" (and the "USA Freedom Act", for that matter) show that the surveillance state has a way of turning its will into law. To borrow a cliche, if encryption is outlawed, only outlaws will have encryption. I don't think encryption can be outlawed, but it can be hamstrung by weakened implementations and requirements to decrypt for "lawful requests".