Telecom Immunity

Source: news.yahoo.com --- 1 day ago
PR Newswire - This is the WashingtonWatch.com federal legislative update for the week of July 7, 2008. ...

Source: slashdot.org --- 10 hours ago
Corrupt notes an Ars analysis of the FISA bill of which the Telecom Immunity provision has been getting all the attention. Timothy B. Lee enumerates the ways in which the bill loosens current protections on domestic wiretapping and opens up whole new areas to government eavesdropping. "The legislation eliminates meaningful judicial oversight of eavesdropping between Americans citizen and foreigners located overseas and effectively legalizes dragnet surveillance of domestic-to-foreign traffic. It stretches out the judicial review process so much that the government will in many cases be able to complete its surveillance activities before the courts finish deciding on its legality." Read more of this story at Slashdot. ...

Source: dir.salon.com --- 6 hours ago
Congress this week will take another major step toward creating a two-tiered system of justice whereby the elite have license to break laws -- exactly what the Founders warned against. ...

Source: jurist.law.pitt.edu --- 7 hours ago
[JURIST] US President George W. Bush called on Congress Tuesday to reject amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that would deny Telecom companies retroactive Immunity for participating in the NSA warrantless surveillance program. In a letter sent to Senate Majority leader Harry Reid on Monday, Director of National Intelligence Jack McConnell and Attorney General Michael Mukasey said that they would recommend that Bush veto the legislation if it included the Bingaman amendment:Any amendment that would delay implementation of the liability protections in this manner is unacceptable. Providing prompt liability protection is critical to the national security. Accordingly, we, as well as the President's other senior advisors, will recommend that the President veto any bill that includes such an amendment.The Bingaman amendment would suspend Telecom Immunity pending a decision by the Inspector General on the legality of the warrentless wiretapping program. Two other proposals, the Dodd-Feingold-Leahy amendment and the Specter amendment, would also limit Telecom Immunity. EEF has more. Last month, the US House of Representatives passed a compromise version of a bill amending FISA and including a controversial provision granting retroactive Immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in the NSA warrantless surveillance program. The bill also grants the FISA court authority to review a wider range of ...

Source: www.osnews.com --- 15 hours ago
Even though the White House "strongly support[s]" the FISA bill, and contends it is necessary to provide "our intelligence professionals the tools they need to keep our Nation safe," and urges the Senate "to act as soon as it returns from its recess," the Bush Administration is willing to veto the legislation and forgo these tools unless the Telecom Immunity is given effect immediately. ...

Source: www.eff.org --- 23 hours ago
Today the Bush Administration released a letter threatening to veto the upcoming FISA legislation if it included the Bingaman Amendment , which puts both Telecom Immunity and the court cases on hold until after the Inspector General reports about the warrantless wiretapping program. If given the choice between new surveillance powers without Immunity for telcos on the one hand, or surveillance under the existing law on the other, the Bush Administration said its choice was clear: keep with the existing law. Even though the White House "strongly support[s]" the FISA bill, and contends it is necessary to provide "our intelligence professionals the tools they need to keep our Nation safe," and urges the Senate "to act as soon as it returns from its recess," the Bush Administration is willing to veto the legislation and forgo these tools unless the Telecom Immunity is given effect immediately . The Administration has said "[t]hat the failure to enact long-term FISA modernization legislation is costly and dangerous is beyond any serious dispute," contending that "[i]t's vital that our intelligence community has the ability to learn who the terrorists are talking to, what they're saying, and what they are planning." However, according to today's veto threat, none of this is as important as immediate Immunity for the telecommunications carriers. Even if the President gets an unprecedented expansion of government surveillance power, and t ...

Source: mwcnews.net --- 1 day ago
The Senate is expected to vote on a controversial measure to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act tomorrow. The legislation would rewrite the nation’s surveillance laws and authorize the National Security Agency’s secret program of warrantless wiretapping. ...

Source: counterterrorismblog.org --- 1 day ago
The U.S. House passed the "FISA Amendments Act of 2008" right before the July 4 recess, which provided a mechanism for immunizing telecommunications companies from possible lawsuits resulting from cooperation provided for the NSA wireless surveillance program after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. At the time, it was characterized as a victory for the telecoms, and the White House supported it . But they must not have read the bill until today. The House added another provision to the bill which guarantees that Immunity wouldn't become effective for months after the President signs the bill, and the White House is only now demanding that the Senate remove that provision. Under the House bill, at least four Inspectors General must review the entire program, starting from the 9-11 attacks through January of this year (corrected), and report to the Congress; the Immunity becomes effective 90 days after that report is sent to Congress. The requirement has drawn a veto threat today from the Adiminstration (see this letter to the Congress ). I worked for over 10 years as a supervisory auditor in the Commerce Department Inspector General's office, and I can guarantee that such a report as contemplated, presumably to be prepared and written under generally accepted government auditing standards, cannot possibly be completed in any less than 15 months, and perhaps not for as long as two years (the provision, Section 301 in the Hou ...

Source: talkabout.hmbreview.com --- 1 day ago
Don’t know what this means? Read on. Please add to this post if you have more information or a differing view. Constitutional expert Jonathan Turley sees a “very frightening bill” in a proposed “compromise,” currently in the House, that would update the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to effectively grant Immunity from civil lawsuits to telecommunications companies that agreed to spy on their customers as part of the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program, starting shortly before the World Trade Center attacks in 2001. If the White House asked a phone company to spy with its assurance that it was legal, the measure says, that’s enough to dismiss a case. The Bill is [below][1]. The link is really long find it at the end of this post. What people are saying. [below][2] and [below][3] How it all started. This [link below][4]is a great story about Mark Klein, the retired AT&T;engineer who stepped forward with the technical documents at the heart of the anti-wiretapping case against AT&T;. What you can do. Obama fans, go [below][5] and join a group on Obama’s website that speaks to this issue directly. Want to tell Nancy Pelosi that she should rethink a yes vote on this issue please call or write her. District Office 450 Golden Gate Ave. 14th Floor San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 556-4862 [1]: http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:9InAg7S3yCUJ:majorityleader.house.gov/docUploads/FISAINTRO_001 ...

Source: whistleblower.typepad.com --- 1 day ago
GAP is opposed to the new FISA bill, which would provide retroactive Immunity to telecoms that allowed the Bush administration to illegally spy on their customer’s calls and e-mail. GAP client Babak Pasdar was instrumental to defeating such a provision... ...

Source: www.webhostingtalk.co.za --- 3 hours ago
Corrupt notes an Ars analysis of the FISA bill of which the Telecom Immunity provision has been getting all the attention. Timothy B. Lee enumerates... ...

Source: miasmo.com --- 15 hours ago
Russ Feingold and Democracy for America have a petition to stop Telecom Immunity . Senator Feingold needs our help to stop the FISA "compromise" bill. Russ sent me this message to pass on to you directly. Please read it and then sign our Senate Petition to Stop Telecom Immunity. We will deliver the petitions to every Senator on Tuesday morning, right before the expected vote. Thanks to TomP . read more ...

Source: miasmo.com --- 15 hours ago
From firedoglake : Blue America is launching a call tool today to help you get in touch with Senators regarding the FISA bill. We're trying to make it as easy as possible for everyone to talk with their Senators about the importance of standing up for the constitution, the rule of law -- and standing against Telecom Immunity. We have been working hard to put together some tools to make your voice heard -- and there is more to come today. read more ...

Source: dir.salon.com --- 6 hours ago
Another federal court's ruling reveals how false and extreme is the case for warrantless eavesdropping and Telecom Immunity. ...

Source: www.cato-at-liberty.org --- 14 hours ago
I’ve got an in-depth piece at Ars Technica examining the provisions of the FISA “compromise” that the Senate will vote on this week. Most of the media coverage has focused on the Telecom Immunity question, but I thought it was important to dig into the law’s other provisions, which are potentially more important in the [...] ...

Source: www.wweek.com --- 22 hours ago
Congress is poised to debate the FISA Amendment Act of 2008 this week, and over at my.barackobama.com Obama supporters are urging the senator and presumptive presidential nominee to join with other Democrats (like Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon) to oppose Immunity for Telecom companies that helped the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program (after Bush’s X-ray vision failed him, turns out). Key point: If the legislation were to move ahead with the provision granting Immunity to companies like AT&T, several dozen lawsuits challenging the Bush administration’s eavesdropping would be rendered meaningless. And the last lawsuit standing—the only one in the country still posing a challenge to Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program—would be an Oregon-based suit brought by Tom Nelson and others to defend Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, which once had an office in Ashland. Wired magazine has the latest details on that suit, including a new ruling from July 2 declaring the government’s “state secrets” privilege does not automatically jettison Al Haramain’s case. Check it out. ...

Source: inyoutruck.blogrevo.com --- 4 hours ago
Obama Campaign Vowed To Filibuster Any Telecom Immunity Bill. Box Office Battle Spy Beats a Guru. Sunday is last organized search day for autistic man. Com i msnbc Components Art SITEWIDE newLogo half. The band were elna in by a Moscow http Motorola radio. So you think we philip are pass nbsp. [...] ...

Source: www.damnittohell.com --- 12 hours ago
I wonder if they voted by sending a text from their AT&T Phones : Well, I guess the democrats are ok with Telecom Immunity as long as they get their pockets padded. It seems that those democrats that flip-flopped on the FISA Immunity bill received a good bit… ...

Source: leadorgetoutoftheway.com --- 21 hours ago
In little under seven days, the My.BarackObama.com group Senator Obama - Please Vote NO on Telecom Immunity - Get FISA Right has become the largest group, organic or campaign created, in the entire Obama universe. That's leadership. Obama? Still in the way. ...