There is also the approach of flooding the internet at a particular time (perhaps the onset of full-on war?) with thousands of messages loaded with the keywords which their software is response to?

If you did that, you would bring the entire UK-USA-NZ-AUS signals intelligence system into crisis. The bottleneck int their system is analysis, and if you give the analysts too much work it all breaks down: 'Virtual tinfoil'

There is also the approach of flooding the internet at a particular time (perhaps the onset of full-on war?) with thousands of messages loaded with the keywords which their software is responsive to?

If you did that, you would bring the entire UK-USA-NZ-AUS signals intelligence system into crisis. The bottleneck int their system is analysis, and if you give the analysts too much work it all breaks down: 'Virtual tinfoil'

Dowload a pdf version here.

Perhaps you could contribute some suitable Echelon catching messages to send. It could be a great game come to think of it.
'time to shut down these US bases with the help of "holy hand grenades" and "tower busters" '
Now would that flippant attempt be picked up?

Get real Supadupa :)

Jam Echelon day happened ages ago ... Basically, it works as a media stunt - but has zero impact on Echelon or any security agencies or monitoring agencies (this is my view without any real research so prove me wrong please)

I think strategies to raise awareness about surveillance strategies need to get more sophisticated... Come up with stuff that is a bit better that predictably reactionary! Why not talk to people in your local community about what surveillance actually is - and highlight some of the negative aspects of it... Have a small forum - or simply talk to the guy who pulls the beer at the pub!! Break down the viewpoint that surveillance systems help make the world safer!

dh/sam -- I know where you are coming from ..... if you know what I mean. And we both know what I wrote is all too true.

The bottleneck in the system, as in all surveillance systems is analysis. If there are too many different messages loaded with different key words it would cause chaos. Its the equivalent of a million protesters lining up at the police stations demanding to be arrested: the system chokes.

But, funnily enough, I am not an anti-echelon activist. I just like to spot the angles. And sometimes you get interesting responses which confirm your guesses. The black baptist preachers in the American south call it 'the bird in a bush'. Look that up!