Steven J. Vaughan-Anna-Nichols-Smith told us so alright. Now if he can stop telling us that it's the year of the Linux desktop like he's been doing for the last decade and a half.
The whole RMS is only a dick for those that don't understand him doesn't work around here. You just have to accept that many people understand him and his motives and think he's a dick.
Australia is very authoritarian. They actually confiscated the guns. not just made them illegal. They threatened law abiding citizens with prison time for not turning them in.
The healthcare isn't free no matter how many times you people say that.
But you're also wrong about Australia being "a very similar society to the US". Maybe at one time, but Australia has some very authoritarian laws these days - from gun control to internet filters, etc..
There's also the fact that liberals - the ideological faction most likely to protest these programs - have been reluctant to criticise a president from their own party.
That's not true, but not surprising coming from the bbc. The BBC needs to differentiate between leftists and liberals. Leftist regimes throughout history have always been for surveillance.
Surveillance isn't just tapping lines. It's also forced government mandates of the individual that are effective in knowing what you're up to.