wiretapping

Rebuffing a series of incendiary statements from President Bush, House Democrats left town for a week without granting telecommunications firms immunity from violating federal privacy laws.

In a speech on Thursday, Bush accused Democrats of endangering "the lives of countless Americans" by not enacting the legislation he and fellow Republicans had proposed, which includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that illegally opened their networks to the National Security Agency.

The White House subsequently circulated a statement saying: "This risks creating new intelligence gaps, which damages our national security and makes no sense if the first priority is … Read more

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have scuttled an attempt to grant a temporary extension to a controversial wiretap law--that did not include retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.

By a 191-229 vote on Wednesday afternoon, the House failed to approve a bill to extend the Protect America Act for 21 days in its current form. The law--which Republicans say is necessary to allow interception of communications that transit the United States--is scheduled to expire on Saturday.

The vote, in which 34 Democrats joined the Republicans, comes hours after President Bush called for including retroactive immunity for any companies … Read more

A U.S. Senate vote that took place two hours ago reveals how much three of our leading presidential candidates are committed to electronic privacy and the rule of law.

Barack Obama passes the test. John McCain failed. Hillary Clinton gets an incomplete.

The vote was on an amendment to deny AT&T and other telecommunications companies legal immunity if they are proven in court to have violated federal privacy law by opening their networks to the National Security Agency.

Obama voted for the amendment. That's a vote for electronic privacy and for the rule of law. It … Read more

Updated at 5:05 a.m. PST Wednesday

The U.S. Congress voted on Tuesday to keep a controversial expansion of a wiretapping law alive for another 15 days.

The law in question, called the Protect America Act, was passed hurriedly by Congress last August and is set to expire Friday. The temporary extension, which passed by a voice vote, arrived amid strong objections from the Bush administration and many Republicans. But according to published reports, the White House plans to sign off on the measure.

The 15-day extension followed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's failed attempt on Monday … Read more

A high-stakes political debate over wiretapping and immunity for telecommunications companies has been pushed back by at least one day.

In two votes on Monday, senators failed to reach the 60-vote supermajority required to curb debate and force a vote on either of two wiretapping-related proposals, one favored by Republicans and the other backed by Democrats. Each vote was 48 yea to 45 no.

That means the debate on how to rework the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act will continue later this week. In his State of the Union address Monday evening, President Bush is expected to press Congress to … Read more

Yet another brawl is brewing among congressional Democrats and the Bush administration over enacting a controversial spy law that would immunize telephone and Internet companies from lawsuits alleging wrongdoing.

With barely a week before the Protect America Act--a six-month-long expansion of electronic surveillance law--expires, the White House has been ratcheting up pressure to renew and further expand that law.

It started Tuesday with a new press release that warned: "The terrorist threat does not expire February 1, and neither should legislation critical to keeping our nation safe."

And it continued on Wednesday by sending Vice President Dick … Read more

Maybe they should start teaching basic bookkeeping at the FBI Academy.

A Justice Department audit released Thursday faulted the agency for poor handling of money and cited a case in which a wiretap under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was disrupted after the phone company cut service due to an overdue bill.

Read the full story on at Reuters, among other places: "Phone company cuts off FBI wiretap for unpaid bill"

The year 2007 might be one of the biggest years for Apple in recent memory. Certainly a lot of great products have been released over the years, but none had the anticipation or the media fervor as did the iPhone. The new iPod Touch, the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, and the funny Mac vs. PC ads we're seeing these days only added to the hype with more people starting to "Think different" than ever before. With Macworld just around the corner and promises of new Mac hardware on the horizon, the future of … Read more

Update December 18, 4:43 a.m. PST: Adds more analysis and background.

Congress won't decide until next year whether to pass a complex law that would let telephone and Internet companies off the hook from lawsuits alleging illicit cooperation with federal government spies.

After a day of back-and-forth on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid emerged on Monday evening and announced he would postpone debate on the so-called FISA Amendments Act. That bill, which has already been approved in a closed-door meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee, would grant such corporate immunity and make … Read more