November 2013 PF CON Case Meagan/Jacob We negate the resolution, Resolved: The benefits of domestic surveillance by the NSA

A outweigh the harms. We offer the following definitions: Benefit - a good or helpful result or effect (Merriam Webster) Domestic Surveillance - Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people and often in a surreptitious manner. It most usually refers to observation of individuals or groups by government organizations, but disease surveillance, for example, is monitoring the progress of a disease in a community. (EPIS) Outweigh: to be greater than (someone or something) in weight, value, or importance (Merriam Webster) Harm - physical or mental damage or injury : something that causes someone or something to be hurt, broken, made less valuable or successful, etc. (Merriam Webster) C1: Loss of Privacy One of the main privileges of the living in the United States is being able to live in private. However, that is becoming less and less of a reality. Subpoint A: Continuous development of domestic surveillance. Elliot D. Cohen writes: But cell phone surveillance is just the tip of a burgeoning technological iceberg. Cell phones can be left behind or turned off at will. However, there are new and emerging technologies that can be implanted in persons and therefore can track them wherever they go in real time without being dis-connected. The twenty-first century will predictably make such 24/7 surveillance of millions of people a reality. The trend toward the development of miniaturized surveillance devices (so-called nanotechnology) is picking up momentum and these technologies are now beginning to be used. Seeing that we are developing technology that will create nonstop surveillance, domestic privacy will be invaded. We need to negate and see that the NSA is hurting the psychological state of Americans. Subpoint B: Domestic surveillance is not kept private. According to the American Civil Liberties Union:

Documents obtained by the ACLU under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the FBI is using its Joint Terrorism Task Forces to gather extensive information about peaceful organizations. Recently, President Bush acknowledged giving explicit and secret authorization for warrantless electronic eavesdropping and physical searches by the NSA. There is proof that the Pentagon, too, is illegally gathering and sharing private and protected information. Contention 2: Authoritarian control Elliot D. Cohen writes: Now in America, government agents spy on American citizens without a court warrant even if they privately believe that their state is asking them to do something that is probably unconstitutional; workers for the telecoms are willing to oblige; congressional authoritarians (both Democrats and Republicans alike) walk lockstep in eviscerating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act; and citizens whose right to privacy is transgressed have tremendous faith in their government and trust that it will protect them against an invisible enemy who might otherwise strike at any time, without warning, at our cities, schools, financial districts, and transit systems. The NSAs domestic surveillance creates a false sense of security. American citizens are led to believe that they are protected and that the government will provide them with safety. However, the complete opposite is true, when we see that citizens privacies are degraded and authority takes advantage of the law and the public. We need to negate because the harms of degrading the American foundation occurs when the NSA conducts domestic surveillance.