Privacy be damned. News is now circulating that a "compromise" to telecom amnesty could be voted on today - and the American Civil Liberties Union has declared it "unconstitutional".
There's been a long and drawn out war over privacy in the United States. With AT&T allegedly putting wiretaps on millions of Americans without a warrant and congress trying to legalize the activity through retroactive immunity, the debates over the wiretapping have been virtually polarized.
The news follows a rather disturbing trend with the most recent activity occurring in Sweden.
In a move that may have it's similarities to that of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union challenging the Data Retention directive ad the Consitutional Courts in Europe, the American Civil Liberties Union has called the telecom amnesty provisions in FISA unconstitutional.
From the press release:
"Congress is poised to once again pass disastrous surveillance legislation, now upping the ante with a thinly-veiled giveaway to some major campaign donors.
"This bill allows for mass and untargeted surveillance of Americans’ communications. The court review is mere window-dressing – all the court would look at is the procedures for the year-long dragnet and not at the who, what and why of the spying. Even this superficial court review has a gaping loophole – ‘exigent’ circumstances can short cut even this perfunctory oversight since any delay in the onset of spying meets the test and by definition going to the court would cause at least a minimal pause. Worse yet, if the court denies an order for any reason, the government is allowed to continue surveillance throughout the appeals process, thereby rendering the role of the judiciary meaningless. In the end, there is no one to answer to; a court review without power is no court review at all."
"The Hoyer/Bush surveillance deal was clearly written with the telephone companies and internet providers at the table and for their benefit. They wanted immunity, and this bill gives it to them.
"The telecom companies simply have to produce a piece of paper we already know exists, resulting in immediate dismissal. That’s not accountability. Loopholes and judicial theater don’t do our Fourth Amendment rights justice. In the end, this is politics. This bill does nothing to keep Americans safe and is a constitutional farce.
It was a sentiment echoed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. From their most recent posting on the subject:
EFF calls on members of the House of Representatives to vote "NO" on H.R.6304, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which the House is expected to vote on tomorrow. The text of the bill was released today, and it contains blanket retroactive immunity for telcos that broke the law by cooperating with the NSA's warrantless surveillance program.
"Whatever gloss might be put on it, the so-called 'compromise' on immunity is anything but: the current proposal is the exact same blanket immunity that the Senate passed in February and that the House rejected in March, only with a few new bells and whistles so that political spinsters can claim that it actually provides meaningful court review," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "We call on all members of Congress to reject this sham compromise and maintain the rule of law, rather than deprive the millions of ordinary Americans whose privacy rights were violated of their day in court."
With all the activity surrounding warrentless wiretapping in the United States, who knew that Sweden would legalize such activities faster? The surveillance legislation could be voted on as early as today.
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