>
> Echelon is NSA's Cold War-vintage global spying system, which consists of
a
> worldwide network of clandestine listening
> posts capable of intercepting electronic communications such as e-mail,
> telephone conversations, faxes, satellite
> transmissions, microwave links and fiber-optic communications traffic.


Hold on there tex..  Listening in on fiber optics from space?
Your reality check just bounced.