[Infowarrior] - Senate Moves to Shield Telecoms on Eavesdropping

[Richard Forno]

Senate Moves to Shield Telecoms on Eavesdropping


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 12, 2008

Filed at 12:52 p.m. ET

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Terrorist-Surveillance.html?_r=2&hp&or
ef=slogin&oref=slogin

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate voted Tuesday to shield from lawsuits
telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop on their
customers without court permission after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

After nearly two months of stops and starts, the Senate rejected by a vote
of 31 to 67 a move to strip away a grant of retroactive legal immunity for
the companies.

President Bush has promised to veto any new surveillance bill that does not
protect the companies that helped the government in its warrantless
wiretapping program, arguing that it is essential if the private sector is
to give the government the help it needs.

About 40 lawsuits have been filed against telecom companies by people
alleging violations of wiretapping and privacy laws.

The Senate also rejected two amendments that sought to water down the
immunity provision.

One, co-sponsored by Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Democrat
Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, would have substituted the government
for the telecoms in lawsuits, allowing the court cases to go forward but
shifting the cost and burden of defending the program.

The other, pushed by California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, would have given
a secret court that oversees government surveillance inside the United
States the power to dismiss lawsuits if it found that the companies acted in
good faith and on the request of the president or attorney general.

Full telecom immunity must still be approved by the House; its version of
the surveillance bill does not provide immunity.

At issue is the government's post-9/11 Terrorist Surveillance Program, which
circumvented a secret court created 30 years ago to oversee such activities.
The court was part of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a law
written in response to government abuse of its surveillance authority
against Americans.

The surveillance law has been updated repeatedly since then, most recently
last summer. Congress hastily adopted a FISA modification in August in the
face of dire warnings from the White House that changes in
telecommunications technology and FISA court rulings were dangerously
constraining the government's ability to intercept terrorist communications.

Shortly after its passage, privacy and civil liberties groups said the new
law gave the government unprecedented authority to spy on Americans,
particularly those who communicate with foreigners.

That law expires Feb. 15, the deadline against which the Senate is now
racing to pass a new bill.

In a separate voice vote Tuesday, the Senate expanded the power of the court
to oversee government eavesdropping on Americans. The amendment would give
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court the authority to monitor whether
the government is complying with procedures designed to protect the privacy
of innocent Americans whose telephone or computer communications are
captured during surveillance of a foreign target.

The bill would also require FISA court orders to eavesdrop on Americans who
are overseas. Under current law, the government can wiretap or search the
possessions of anyone outside the United States--even a soldier serving
overseas-- without court permission if it believes the person may be a
foreign agent.

''You don't lose your rights when you leave American soil,'' Sen. Ron Wyden,
D-Ore., said in an interview. Wyden wrote the provision into the bill when
it was still being considered by the Senate Intelligence Committee. ''In the
digital age, an American's rights shouldn't depend on their physical
geography.''

The House approved its own update last fall. If the Senate passes its bill,
differences between the two versions remain to be worked out, approved by
both houses, and delivered to the president for his signature.
More Articles in National »