Skip to Main Content
Electronic Communication Interception Technologies and Issues of Power
book

Electronic Communication Interception Technologies and Issues of Power

by Daniel Ventre, Philippe Guillot
October 2023
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
256 pages
7h 45m
English
Wiley-ISTE
Content preview from Electronic Communication Interception Technologies and Issues of Power

1History and Repertoire of Communication Interception Practices

The interception of correspondence has been ongoing for centuries. However, we will not attempt to date its origin. By focusing on the period closest to the present, it is possible to identify its multiple contexts of use, as well as its civil, military, political, economic and diplomatic applications. On the one hand, the emergence of new modes of communication in the 19th century led to a considerable increase in the volume and distribution speed of correspondence, and to changes in the geographical dimension, on the other hand. It became much easier to correspond with the other side of the world, thanks to the speed of messages reaching their destination and the reduction in communication costs. Communication also diversified its methods: there was a gradual shift from writing to voice transmission with telephony and radio communications.

The principle of the optical telegraph, then called the aerial telegraph so as to differentiate it from the electric telegraph, has been known since antiquity. As early as the second century BC, the Greek general, statesman and historian Polybius described, in Book X, Chapter VII “Fire Signals” of his General History, a system “by means of which anyone who cares to do so even though he is at a distance of three, four, or even more days’ journey, can be informed”1. He describes the process in the following terms:

Divide the alphabet into five groups of five letters each […] ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

Reinventing the Organization for GenAI and LLMs

Reinventing the Organization for GenAI and LLMs

Ethan Mollick

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781786308023Purchase Link