Bushies push NSA wiretap extravaganza
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Freedom's just another word for nothing left to hide Comment True freedom is protecting Americans by letting the NSA monitor their email and phone calls by the millions without a warrant, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales explained to Air Force Academy cadets in a speech last week.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Congress should proceed cautiously while considering bills to authorize a U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance program because of the potential impact on the technology industry, a tech trade group said Friday. A day after legislation to authorize the controversial NSA program stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) sent a letter to the committee raising concerns about surveillance programs that "undermine" government checks and balances in the U.S. Constitution. A massive surveillance program will hurt users' confidence in the privacy of communications networks and will put burdensome requirements on tech and telecom vendors, said Ed Black, president and chief executive officer of CCIA. The trade group's members include Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. "This is a very delicate area, and we have to be careful of what we do," Black said. "What the [Bush] administration has been pushing is a system without real limits, without real checks." U.S. President George Bush's administration has used the NSA program to monitor electronic communications of U.S. residents, without seeking court-issued wiretap orders. Bush, in a speech on Thursday, defended the program and said it helps keep U.S. residents safe. Although Bush administration officials continue to say the program is legal, Bush called on Congress to authorize the program as a way to head off multiple lawsuits challenging it. "The terrorists who want to harm America can now buy disposable cell phones, and open anonymous e-mail addresses," Bush said during a speech in Atlanta, Georgia. "Our laws need to change to take these changes into account." In August, a federal judge in Michigan declared the NSA program illegal, and in July, a federal judge in California, denied motions by the U.S. government and AT&T Inc. to stop a lawsuit over the carrier's alleged participation in the NSA program. On Thursday, a federal judge in Oregon rejected a motion by the U.S. government to stop a lawsuit there alleging the NSA program is illegal. An Islamic organization brought the lawsuit against Bush and directors of the NSA and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Also on Thursday, two bills to authorize the NSA program stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee when Democrats offered a series of amendments. Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, complained that Democrats were obstructing the legislation. Specter may try to bring the legislation up for a vote in the Judiciary Committee later this month. Black urged the committee to fully consider the economic effects of a large surveillance program. Telecom carriers and Internet service providers may have to store records of all communications for several months if the legislation is approved, he said. "We're running headlong into a major alteration of the way communications in this country are monitored without a thorough consideration of all the factors in play," Black said.
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The Bush administration wants the power to grant legal immunity to telecommunications companies that are slapped with privacy suits for cooperating with the White House's controversial warrantless eavesdropping program.
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A government lawyer used a dramatic scenario of a nuclear attack on Washington to illustrate his arguments Tuesday in defense of President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program.
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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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With a deadline looming, President Bush and congressional Democrats are locked in a standoff over the government's authority to spy on foreign phone calls and e-mails that pass through the United States.
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If you thought RIPA was bad... Proposed telecoms interception laws in Zimbabwe have created a furore with the government apparently awarding itself unlimited snooping powers.â¦
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Protesters and federal agents are using new tools to communicate with cohorts during the Republican National Convention.
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Sweeping powers yes, electrical power no The National Security Agency (NSA), America's ultrasecret electronic spy agency, may be on the verge of a disastrous power overload at its Maryland headquarters.â¦
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The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union are among groups promoting opposition to bills that would create an NSA-run electronic surveillance program.
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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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Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee  are complaining that the National Security Agency has played politics in support of the secret program to intercept phone calls between alleged terrorists in the United States and abroad.
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NEW YORK At first glance, it might seem like the simple extension of a standard tool in the fight against the bad guys. But in fact, wiretapping Internet phones to monitor criminals and terrorists is costly
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In a day of political brinkmanship, President Bush pressured the House on Thursday to finish a bill giving the government more leeway to eavesdrop on phone calls and e-mails of suspected terrorists. House Democrats didn't budge and angry Republicans staged a walkout down the Capitol steps.
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i-Spy Surveillance cameras outfitted with internet technology are open to tampering and interception, security experts warn.â¦
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People sniffing wireless network traffic have many tools at their disposal to intercept sensitive data from PCs.
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ACLU complains of a Catch-22 The US Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to the Bush Administration's warrantless wiretapping program.â¦