House Rejects Senate Spy Agency Overhaul
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The House of Representatives on  Thursday rejected a Senate-passed spy agency overhaul clearing  the way for passage of a Republican-written measure that  critics said includes controversial provisions that could snarl  the bill in congressional wrangling.
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Legislation to reshape the intelligence community collapsed yesterday as conservative House Republicans refused to embrace a compromise because they said
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US lawmakers said on Friday it was increasingly unlikely they could deliver a measure to overhaul US spy agencies to President Bush by the Nov. 2 elections, a delay some supporters said could imperil the post Sept.
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WASHINGTON - The White House came out Tuesday against parts of a Senate intelligence reorganization bill, saying they would create "a cumbersome new bureaucracy" for coordinating the activities of 15 spy agencies under a national intelligence director.    Meanwhile, one of the leaders of the Sept...
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House leaders today overcame GOP resistance to a major bill revamping the nation's intelligence operations, scheduling a late-afternoon vote that they predicted would pass comfortably.
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(InfoWorld) - An antispyware bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives this week faces opposition from several groups with one side saying it's too strong and the other saying it's too weak. The Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act (SPY ACT), which passed the House Wednesday by a vote of 368 to 48, would prohibit taking control of computers to send unsolicited material to others, diverting the Web browser, modifying a computer's settings and keystroke logging. The bill would make it illegal to collect personal information without permission and it allows fines of up to $3 million for some violations. But several business groups, led by the DMA (Direct Marketing Association), sent a letter to House leaders this week raising objections that the bill too broadly defines "computer software" and "information collection programs," and it could make it illegal for e-commerce sites to recommend products based on browsing or buying history, engage in targeted advertising, or to place cookies on a Web site user's computer "The scope and impact of [the bill] on legitimate businesses goes far beyond regulating spyware and cuts to the heart of the information economy," said the letter, signed by 31 trade groups and companies. The bill could "limit the seamless Internet experience that is responsible for the widespread adoption of the Internet by consumers," the letter said. Representatives of the SPY ACT's two main sponsors, Representative Ed Towns, a New York Democrat, and Representative Mary Bono, a California Republican, weren't immediately available for comment. The SPY ACT is the second piece of antispyware legislation passed by the House this year. The Internet Spyware Prevention Act (I-SPY),Â which passed the House in May, hasn't prompted major objections. I-SPY would create penalties of up to five years in prison for some spyware-like behavior. Versions of both bills passed the House in May 2005, but failed to make it through the Senate. By requiring Web sites to get permission every time they track a users' history, the SPY ACT could make Web surfing an unwieldy series of pop-ups asking for permission, said Steve Berry, the DMA's executive vice president for government affairs. By trying to define bad uses of technology, the bill becomes overly broad, he said. "Our thought is maybe you should look at the intent rather than trying to regulate the technology," Berry said. Among the groups signing the letter in opposition to the SPY ACT were the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Information Technology Association of America, NetCoalition, Charles Schwab & Co, and the Internet Alliance. Meanwhile, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has raised different objections to the SPY ACT. The bill would preempt about 10 state laws that have been passed, many of them stronger than the SPY ACT, said Fred von Lohmann, senior intellectual property lawyer for the EFF. In addition, the bill would take away the ability of private citizens to sue spyware creators, von Lohmann said. The bill "would actually make things worse, insulating adware vendors from more stringent state laws and private lawsuits," von Lohmann wrote on the EFF blog in April. The bill concentrates spyware enforcement in the hands of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and state attorney generals, instead of allowing private lawsuits as well, he said. "This is a terrible move," von Lohmann wrote. "If Congress is serious about enacting tough anti-spyware laws, it should create incentives that would encourage private citizens to pursue the bad guys." Bono, one of the bill's sponsors, said in a statement this week that the preemption of state laws is the right approach. "Because of the Internet's role in interstate commerce, the need for federal spyware legislation is clear, depending on a patchwork of state laws is simply unworkable," she said. "The passage of the SPY ACT moves the American people one step closer to reclaiming control of their computers in their home and at their business."
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The U.S. Senate on Wednesday  approved a sweeping overhaul of U.S. spy agencies that would  establish a new powerful national intelligence director post in  response to the Sept. 11 commission report that cited major  failures leading to the attacks.
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WASHINGTON - A bill making sweeping reforms to the nation&#39;s intelligence agencies that had appeared to be on track Saturday was derailed by House Republicans, handing president Bush his first legislative setback since his reelection.
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Last week, Congress acted to reorganize the nation&#39;s spy agencies even as the top US arms inspector outlined massive intelligence failures about prewar Iraq.
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The U.S. Senate defeated on Tuesday an amendment that would take away legal immunity from telecommunications providers that helped the U.S. National Security Agency conduct surveillance on U.S. residents, earning criticism from two civil liberties groups.The Senate, by a 31-67 vote, defeated an amendment to the FISA Amendments Act, a bill that would make changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and allow the NSA program to continue. In the past, the NSA has conducted telephone and e-mail surveillance of U.S. citizens conversing with terrorist suspects overseas without court-approved warrants.The Senate was scheduled to vote on the full FISA bill late Tuesday.The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) slammed the Senate vote. &quot;Immunity for telecom giants that secretly assisted in the NSA&#39;s warrantless surveillance undermines the rule of law and the privacy of every American,&quot; said EFF senior staff attorney Kevin Bankston. &quot;Congress should let the courts do their job instead of helping the administration and the phone companies avoid accountability for a half decade of illegal domestic spying.&quot;It doesn&#39;t make sense for Congress to work hard on the FISA bill when the NSA and telecom providers can circumvent the law, added Greg Nojeim, CDT&#39;s senior counsel. &quot;The telecom immunity provision sends a message that it&#39;s OK for a telecom to assist with unlawful surveillance when secretly asked to do so by the government,&quot; he said.Democratic Senators Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin had sponsored the amendment to get rid of legal immunity for the telecom providers. AT&amp;T and other telecom carriers are being sued in U.S. court in San Francisco for their participation in the surveillance program, which many civil liberties groups say is illegal.Last month, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said in a speech that it is &quot;entirely appropriate&quot; for U.S. intelligence agencies to seek help from private companies like telecom providers, because agencies don&#39;t have all the resources they need to keep the U.S. safe from terrorism.&quot;Some providers are facing dozens of lawsuits right now,&quot; Cheney said then. &quot;Why? Because they are believed to have aided the U.S. government in the effort to intercept international communications of al Qaeda-related individuals.&quot;A House bill, passed in November, does not include legal immunity for telecom providers that participated in the NSA program. The House and Senate would have negotiate the differences in the two bills before sending the legislation to U.S. President George Bush to sign. Bush has threatened to veto a surveillance bill that does not include legal immunity for telecom providers, but congressional authorization for the surveillance program expires Feb. 15.It would be counterproductive for Bush to veto a bill that extends surveillance programs that he says are critical, Bankston said. &quot;The only way they can [get legal immunity] is by fallaciously tying it to something critical,&quot; he said.The EFF will push hard to have House negotiators keep the telecom immunity provisions out of the bill that goes to Bush, Bankston added.The EFF and CDT both prefer the House FISA bill, called the Restore Act. Unlike the Senate bill, the House bill would require court approval of surveillance, and the House version would expire in two years, as opposed to six years in the Senate version. The CDT has produced a chart comparing the two bills.
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The House of Representatives was scheduled to reconvene today without any sign of compromise on an intelligence-overhaul bill sought by President Bush that is being blocked from a final vote
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A bill backed by President Bush to  overhaul American spy agencies faced an uncertain future on  Sunday and a top Democrat said the Republican-led Congress  should not adjourn for the year until it passes.
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WASHINGTON - New immigration barriers and expanded police powers, as well as making more of the public airwaves available for emergency services, are some of the issues trying to find a home in a bill to overhaul U.S. spy agencies...
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The biggest overhaul of the US intelligence network in a half century neared a House vote Tuesday, part of a broad measure that also aimed to intensify aviation and border security in response to the Sept.
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The chairman and ranking member of the Senate conferees on the bill to restructure intelligence gathering said Sunday that a House Republican compromise proposal fails to provide the needed authority to a new national intelligence director.
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The Senate rejected attempts Monday by its senior members to rein in some proposed national intelligence director's powers, responsibilities that some lawmakers said senators wanted to reserve for themselves.
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Despite pressure from President Bush and Republican lawmakers, Democratic leaders in the House refuse to rush through a controversial domestic spying bill that includes amnesty for phone companies.