Wiretapping // Current

Obama covers up Bush's crimes

In high-profile court cases, the NSA has refused to confirm or deny the existence of... more

Mulcahey
added this
1 month ago
|
0 comments

How the Government Lied about National Security Letters and the Patriot Act

If you haven't called your representatives about opposing the Patriot Act renewal, do... more

Mulcahey
added this
1 month ago
|
0 comments

Big Brother "Fusion Centers" Part of US Domestic Intelligence and Surveillance Apparatus

Everything I read about Fusion Centers makes them seem less and less of a good idea.

Mulcahey
added this
1 month ago
|
0 comments

SUPREME COURT ABOUT TO DO THE UNTHINKABLE!

THIS IS NO DRILL ! 100 years of congressional efforts to limit corporate spending... more

WhiteNoise
added this
2 months ago
|
83 comments

Episode: 0119 Free Minds TV July 24, 2009

Seven juveniles in PA busted for trafficking in controlled substance: lemonade, Free... more

freemindstv
added this
4 months ago
|
0 comments

Spying on the Home Front

What did you do for AT&T? How long did you work there? I worked at AT&T for 22 and... more

asherp
added this
4 months ago
|
0 comments

Some questions

The President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano replied to criticism for... more

hyperion74
added this
4 months ago
|
0 comments

Denying the facts

The problem of the premier Silvio Berlusconi is the difficulty of denying the facts.... more

hyperion74
added this
4 months ago
|
0 comments

The NSA wiretapping story nobody wanted

Klein, 64, was a retired AT&T communications technician in December 2005, when he read... more

synjun
added this
4 months ago
|
3 comments

A small ray of light

The President of the Republic Napolitano summoned the Minister of Justice Alfano for a... more

hyperion74
added this
5 months ago
|
0 comments

EFF Challenges Government's 'Back Door Wiretap'

Urges Court to Rule Email Privacy Is Constitutionally Protected

Cincinnati - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and other civil liberties groups filed an amicus brief in Warshak v. United States urging the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday to hold that the government's seizure of email without a warrant violated the Fourth Amendment and federal privacy statutes, as well as the Justice Department's own surveillance manual.

During its criminal investigation, the Department of Justice illegally ordered defendant Stephen Warshak's email provider to prospectively "preserve" copies of his future emails, which the government later obtained using a subpoena and a non-probable cause court order. The government accomplished this "back door wiretap" by misusing the Stored Communications Act (SCA), which is only supposed to be used for obtaining emails already in storage with a provider.

In Wednesday's filing, EFF argues that the government's seizure violated federal privacy laws and Warshak's Fourth Amendment expectation of privacy in his email. As a result, the illegally seized emails should have been suppressed by the district court where Warshak was tried. All told, the government acquired over 27,000 emails spanning over six months from Warshak's email provider, all without probable cause.

"The Justice Department not only violated the Fourth Amendment and federal privacy statutes but its own surveillance manual when it conducted this 'back door wiretap' to intercept six months worth of emails without a warrant," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "Thankfully, this abuse has given the appeals court yet another opportunity to clarify that the Fourth Amendment protects the privacy of email against secret government snooping, even when it's in the hands of an email provider."

EFF filed a similar amicus brief with the 6th Circuit in 2006 in a civil suit brought by Warshak against the government for its warrantless seizure of his emails. There, the 6th Circuit agreed with EFF that email users have a Fourth Amendment-protected expectation of privacy in the email they store with their email providers, though that decision was later vacated on procedural grounds.

"The government's illegal email surveillance in this case raises troubling questions about how often the Justice Department has bent the law or broken it outright in other criminal investigations," said Bankston. "This 'back door wiretap' is yet another demonstration of why Congress must update the federal surveillance statutes to require comprehensive reporting on how the government is using its spying authorities."

The amicus brief was also signed by the ACLU of Ohio and the Center for Democracy and Technology.

For the full amicus brief:
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/Warshak_EFF_Amicus_Brief.pdfUrges Court to Rule Email Privacy Is Constitutionally Protected Cincinnati - The... more

asherp
added this
5 months ago
|
0 comments

Government won’t release wiretap documents

The Obama administration insists it has no obligation to provide access to a top... more

ClipsFC
added this
6 months ago
|
1 comment

Pelosi knew Harman was overheard on wiretap

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she was aware a few years... more

ClipsFC
added this
7 months ago
|
1 comment

The Politics of “Fait Accompli” : An American “Leitmotiv” !

Whoa, now wait a cockeyed minute here… A French & Russian expression in one headline... more

WhiteNoise
added this
7 months ago
|
18 comments

Obama’s First 100 Days: Worse Than Dissapointing?

Before the media starts in on their assessment of the first 100 days, I thought current could take a stab at it first.
Do you think Obama accomplished good things in his first 100 days? Do you feel mislead by expectations of what he would accomplish?

I tend to fall in the middle, but Prison Planet points out some things that may not be what we were expecting of Obama, and will probably not make the mainstream summation of his first 100 days.

They ask:

- Will Obama support Dennis Kucinich’s efforts to bring war crimes charges against Bush, Cheney and others for deceiving the country into a war or will he protect them against such charges like Nancy Pelosi has done?

- Will Obama bring war crimes charges against Bush, Cheney and others for authorizing torture and will the torture of suspects under U.S. detention, a complete violation of both the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions, cease under an Obama administration?

- Will Obama withdraw American troops from Iraq and Afghanistan without sending them away again to bomb another broken-backed third world country?

- Will Obama end the warrantless secret surveillance and phone-taps of American citizens?

- Will Obama cease his support for the Bush-administration backed banker bailouts, hated by the majority of Americans, and target the real cause of the problem - the Federal Reserve - or will he continue to give taxpayers’ money to banks who are merely hoarding it all for themselves?

- Will Obama repeal Patriot Acts I and II as well as reversing Bush’s signing statement and acknowledging the repeal of the John Warner Defense Authorization Act? Will Obama seek to continue the militarization of America and preparations for martial law through Northcom and the secret government or will he dismantle the police state that has been constructed over the last eight years by the Bush administration?

- Will Obama follow through on his rhetorical support for the second amendment or will he seek to ban guns as he did in Illinois?Before the media starts in on their assessment of the first 100 days, I thought... more

banditalamode
added this
7 months ago
|
8 comments

Head of Senate Panel Seeks Hearing on Wiretaps

WASHINGTON — The head of the Senate intelligence committee said Thursday that she... more

current89
added this
7 months ago
|
17 comments

Senate Panel to Probe Wiretapping Violations

41 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee said... more

ClipsFC
added this
7 months ago
|
1 comment

Which Member Of Congress Did The NSA Try To Spy On Without A Warrant?

The National Security Agency sought to wiretap a member of Congress without a warrant,... more

atomiclegion
added this
7 months ago
|
0 comments

N.S.A.’s Intercepts Exceed Limits Set by Congress

WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews.

Several intelligence officials, as well as lawyers briefed about the matter, said the N.S.A. had been engaged in “overcollection” of domestic communications of Americans. They described the practice as significant and systemic, although one official said it was believed to have been unintentional.

The legal and operational problems surrounding the N.S.A.’s surveillance activities have come under scrutiny from the Obama administration, Congressional intelligence committees and a secret national security court, said the intelligence officials, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because N.S.A. activities are classified. Classified government briefings have been held in recent weeks in response to a brewing controversy that some officials worry could damage the credibility of legitimate intelligence-gathering efforts.

The Justice Department, in response to inquiries from The New York Times, acknowledged Wednesday night that there had been problems with the N.S.A. surveillance operation, but said they had been resolved.

As part of a periodic review of the agency’s activities, the department “detected issues that raised concerns,” it said. Justice Department officials then “took comprehensive steps to correct the situation and bring the program into compliance” with the law and court orders, the statement said. It added that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. went to the national security court to seek a renewal of the surveillance program only after new safeguards were put in place.

In a statement on Wednesday night, the N.S.A. said that its “intelligence operations, including programs for collection and analysis, are in strict accordance with U.S. laws and regulations.” The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the intelligence community, did not address specific aspects of the surveillance problems but said in a statement that “when inadvertent mistakes are made, we take it very seriously and work immediately to correct them.”

End of Excerpt

Photo Source and note: Photo is of NSA headquarters in Maryland, photo provided by Wikipedia.WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and... more

current89
added this
7 months ago
|
21 comments

N.S.A.’s Intercepts Exceed Broad Limits Set by Congress

WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and... more

bansheewail
added this
7 months ago
|
3 comments

tagged w/ Wiretapping

Obama covers up Bush's crimes

How the Government Lied about National Security Letters and the Patriot Act

Big Brother "Fusion Centers" Part of US Domestic Intelligence and Surveillance Apparatus

SUPREME COURT ABOUT TO DO THE UNTHINKABLE!

Episode: 0119 Free Minds TV July 24, 2009

Spying on the Home Front

Some questions

Denying the facts

The NSA wiretapping story nobody wanted

A small ray of light

EFF Challenges Government's 'Back Door Wiretap'

Government won’t release wiretap documents

Pelosi knew Harman was overheard on wiretap

The Politics of “Fait Accompli” : An American “Leitmotiv” !

Obama’s First 100 Days: Worse Than Dissapointing?

Head of Senate Panel Seeks Hearing on Wiretaps

Senate Panel to Probe Wiretapping Violations

Which Member Of Congress Did The NSA Try To Spy On Without A Warrant?

N.S.A.’s Intercepts Exceed Limits Set by Congress

N.S.A.’s Intercepts Exceed Broad Limits Set by Congress

current videos

The Obamas: After Dark

Five Favorite Films with John Woo

Girlfriend Texts During Football

People Eating Weird Things

Vampires Can Suck It

Prison Contraband

about current

watch current

the people are talking

the basics

take us with you

tools

stay in touch

© 2009 Current TV, LLC
All Rights Reserved