@eric: if a person videotapes animal cruelty on a factory farm, they are considered a "terrorist". that is ridiculous. and so is your entire "what if/hypothetical" comment.

just one more bs law that president bush is responsible for. i personally find it insulting to us as a nation that we as a people are not allowed to take full advantage of our civil rights. if the us government is so concerned about civilians taking pictures, or investigating & exposing animal cruelty on factory farms then why the fu*k don't they do something to end this practice instead of wasting their linited resources prosecuting hard working ara as eco terrorists?

to give the fbi the benefit of the doubt, many of these activists also advocate using violence (and have used violence) to stop such practices - even if the practice in question is not illegal, or (as with laboratory animal use) is already heavily regulated. if the only thing going on is the documenting of animal abuse, that's one thing - but if the documentation is accompanied by calls to threaten or intimidate people, or by calls to destroy property - that crosses a (reasonable) legal line.