FBI Wiretap Cut Off After Feds Fail To Pay Telecom Spying Bills
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A phone company cut off a FBI foreign-intelligence wiretap after the FBI failed to pay its bills, according to an internal audit. The disconnection was just one consequence of the FBI's routine late payments to the nation's telecoms for wiretaps and surveillance infrastructure.
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The Government Accountability Office says the FBI's internal network lacks security controls adequate to thwart an insider attack.
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A cash-flow problem in a federal program is hindering the ability of many schools and libraries to pay for Internet service. The Federal Communications Commission has ordered
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(InfoWorld) - U.S. lawmakers promised to push ahead legislation aimed at cracking down on pretexting despite some objections from telecom carriers and the U.S. Department of Justice. Nearly all the members of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee pledged to push the Prevention of Fraudulent Access to Phone Records Act, which would give the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) authority to file lawsuits against pretexters and the people who hire them. The bill would also require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to draw up new rules for telecom carriers to protect private phone records, and it would prevent carriers from sharing customer information with third parties without permission. Despite some concerns about the bill, lawmakers said consumers need protection against pretexting, the practice of posing as a telecom customer to obtain phone records and other private information. "Someone with bad intentions and a few bucks can get a hold of almost anybody's cell phone records," said Representative Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican. President George Bush signed a bill creating criminal penalties for pretexting in January. But proponents of the Prevention of Fraudulent Access to Phone Records Act say the extra protections in the bill are also needed. The Energy and Commerce Committee approved the same bill during the last session of Congress, but the legislation apparently was held up on the House floor because of concerns from federal law enforcement agencies that the bill could slow efforts to get information on terrorism suspects. Lawmakers from both parties complained that they received little explanation about why the bill died last year. Thomas Navin, chief of the FCC's Wireline Bureau, said the Department of Justice was concerned that the FCC would set up rules that consumers are notified too soon after their phone records were accessed by someone else. The DOJ wanted a delay of seven days before consumers were notified, he said. But Representative Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said consumers should be notified immediately. "I don't think the Department of Justice should be listened to on that issue," he said. "I think [victims] should be listened to on that issue." Markey pointed to news reports this week saying the FBI may have violated the law and its internal rules while collecting telephone, data, and other personal records through the Patriot Act. "There is still a lack of respect for the law of our country," he said. Beyond the law enforcement concerns, representatives of trade groups the United States Telecom Association and CTIA-The Wireless Association said the bill could prevent them from sharing customer information with third parties that market complementary products. CTIA members don't share customers' personal information with unrelated groups, but the carriers do use third-party vendors to market wireless-related products, said Steve Largent, CTIA's president and CEO. But Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, questioned industry concerns about language in the bill that could require carriers to get opt-in permission from customers to share their personal data. "It seems if we want to protect privacy, we should change this from opt out to opt in," he said.
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After FoI request denied by FBI A privacy group is suing the US Government for information about surveillance programmes after the FBI failed to respond to a freedom of information request.â¦
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US News, In a blow to the Justice Department&#39;s post-Sept. 11 powers, US District Judge Victor Marrero on Wednesday struck down the provision of the Patriot Act that let the FBI gather phone and Web customer
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A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it.
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Broad spying powers temporarily approved by Congress in August appear likely to lapse this week after the White House and House Democrats produced no clear resolution.
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The FBI failed to report accurately how many people it snooped on using anti-terror measures, officials said a government audit revealed today. Demands for banks and phone companies to hand over people's private information without telling them may also have gone beyond what is allowed by the Patriot Act, officials with access to the report told CNN.
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The feds accidentally give a D.C. attorney a classified document showing that the NSA intercepted his phone calls without a warrant. When they ask for it back, they get a $2 million lawsuit along with it. By Ryan Singel.
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(InfoWorld) - A U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) wiretapping program can continue while President George Bush's administration appeals a ruling by a Michigan judge who said the program was illegal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in an order released Wednesday, said the Bush administration successfully argued that the program would be irreparably harmed if it were shut down pending the government's appeal of the earlier ruling. On Aug. 17,Â Judge Anna Diggs Taylor of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan ruled that the program, used to wiretap telephone and Internet traffic without court-issued warrants, was illegal and should be halted immediately. The NSA program has allegedly listened in on U.S. residents' conversations with people who have suspected terrorism links. Several lawsuits have targeted the NSA program. In addition to the Michigan lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and others, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and other groups have brought lawsuits being heardÂ in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. A judge thereÂ has ruled against the U.S. government and AT&T Inc., which had requested the EFF case be thrown out. In the Michigan appeal, a three-judge panel issued a two-page ruling Wednesday, saying simply the Bush administration's arguments had met the standard for a stay of Taylor's ruling. Among the panel's considerations were the likelihood the Bush administration could win on appeal, whether the program and the U.S. government would be irreparably harmed, and the public interest, the judges wrote.
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A telephone company cut off an FBI international wiretap after the agency failed to pay its bill on time, according to a U.S. government audit released on Thursday.
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Noise on the wire Opponents of the Bush administration's controversial warrantless wiretapping program have suffered a pair of defeats in their efforts to rein in the scheme.â¦
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The U.S. government can continue to use its warrantless domestic wiretap program pending the Justice Department's appeal of a federal judge's ruling outlawing the program, a U.S. Appeals Court in Cincinnati ruled on Wednesday.
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The Senate rejected a bid to remove legal immunity for telecom providers that participated in a government surveillance program.
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The government can continue to use its warrantless domestic wiretap program pending the Justice Department's appeal of a federal judge's ruling outlawing the program, an Appeals Court in Cincinnati ruled on Wednesday.
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The FBI abused its power by illegally or improperly obtaining telephone, financial and other secret records in investigations of terrorism or espionage suspects, the U.S. Justice Department's inspector general said on Friday.