SiliconBeat

A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments of 2008 was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by four affiliates of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Joining as plaintiffs in the action was Tom Campbell, a former U.S. Congressman who represented a portion of Silicon Valley for five terms and who recently stepped down as dean of Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley, as well as Read the rest of this entry »

There’s been a lot of huffing and puffing over the recent passage of a compromise bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, commonly referred to as “FISA.” Opponents are particularly annoyed that the bill would grant immunity to the telephone companies if they cooperate with the government’s program of warrant-less wiretapping.

I’m still trying to understand the issue here better, though my gut tells me that the telephone companies are getting off too easy.

Adding to that gut feeling was this analysis from MAPlight.org on political contributions from telcoes to lawmakers, particularly those who changed their votes to favor the bill. According to MAPlight.org:

“Ninety-four House Democrats voted in favor of this measure–rejecting immunity–on March 14, then ‘changed’ to vote in favor of the June 20 House bill–approving immunity.

And why did those 94 change their votes. Surely it couldn’t be for money. Could it? Read the rest of this entry »