I never assume altruism
It is nice to think that the law enforcement system is here to protect our rights against criminal activity. But as you point out, it doesn't always seem to go that way. My observations go a step further: It has never been that way.
Thus when you say:
'In cases where some criminal act has actually been perpetrated, the primary concern should of course be to find the criminal, rather than simply labeling the most easily found patsy with the term ???criminal???.'
I agree. But I also believe, based on a long view of real human history, rather than human ideals, that finding the right patsy has in fact always been the basic operating basis of any system of law enforcement.
This doesn't mean that we should give up our ideals. But it does mean that we should face the facts. If the anti-crime effort were truly focused on finding real criminals instead of patsies, why does real crime continue to escalate? The crime picture on this planet is extremely sobering. We will not be able to handle it unless we begin to re-inspect some of our most basic assumptions.
IPv4 has been used in criminal investigations, and IPv6 will be even more intensively used. But IP addresses, like SSNs before them, have been used by both "sides" to attempt to track and identify individuals. It is unlikely this trend will change on the basis of rational arguments alone. Those that have misused these systems are not rational people.
