Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008: Difference between revisions
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The bill also provides [[Immunity (legal)|immunity]] for [[AT&T]], [[Verizon Communications]] and other [[U.S. telecommunications companies]] against 40 lawsuits alleging that they violated customers' [[privacy rights]] by helping the government's [[NSA electronic surveillance program]] conduct an illegal [[Warrant (law)|warrant]]less [[spy]]ing program after the [[September 11th attacks]].<ref name=Kane/> |
The bill also provides [[Immunity (legal)|immunity]] for [[AT&T]], [[Verizon Communications]] and other [[U.S. telecommunications companies]] against 40 lawsuits alleging that they violated customers' [[privacy rights]] by helping the government's [[NSA electronic surveillance program]] conduct an illegal [[Warrant (law)|warrant]]less [[spy]]ing program after the [[September 11th attacks]].<ref name=Kane/> |
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The bill would protect telecommunications companies from lawsuits for cooperating for "past or future cooperation" with federal law enforcement authorities and will assist the intelligence community in determining the plans of terrorists and other criminals. |
The bill would protect telecommunications companies from lawsuits for cooperating for "past or future cooperation" with federal law enforcement authorities and will assist the intelligence community in determining the plans of terrorists and other criminals. And to find out what the American people are watching at night, listening to in their free time, who they are talking to, and the last time they took a dump in a toliet. |
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==Legislative history== |
==Legislative history== |
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Revision as of 22:51, 10 July 2008
Template:TotallyDisputed The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (also called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008, H.R. 6304) is a bill passed by the United States Congress on July 9, 2008 to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.[1] It was signed into law on July 10 by US President George W. Bush.
Provisions
Specifically, the bill:[2]
- Prohibits the individual states from investigating, sanctioning of, or requiring disclosure by complicit telecoms or other persons.
- Permits the government not to keep records of searches, and destroy existing records (it requires them to only keep the records for a period of 10 years).
- Protects telecommunications companies from lawsuits for "'past or future cooperation' with federal law enforcement authorities and will assist the intelligence community in determining the plans of terrorists."
- Removes requirements for detailed descriptions of the nature of information or property targeted by the surveillance.
- Increased the time allowed for warrantless surveillance to continue from 48 hours to 7 days.
- Requires FISA court permission to wiretap Americans who are overseas.
- Prohibits targeting a foreigner to eavesdrop on an American's calls or e-mails without court approval.
- Allows the FISA court 30 days to review existing but expiring surveillance orders before renewing them.
- Allows eavesdropping in emergencies without court approval, provided the government files required papers within a week.
- Prohibits the government from invoking war powers or other authorities to supersede surveillance rules in the future.
The bill also provides immunity for AT&T, Verizon Communications and other U.S. telecommunications companies against 40 lawsuits alleging that they violated customers' privacy rights by helping the government's NSA electronic surveillance program conduct an illegal warrantless spying program after the September 11th attacks.[3]
The bill would protect telecommunications companies from lawsuits for cooperating for "past or future cooperation" with federal law enforcement authorities and will assist the intelligence community in determining the plans of terrorists and other criminals. And to find out what the American people are watching at night, listening to in their free time, who they are talking to, and the last time they took a dump in a toliet.
Legislative history
The U.S. House of Representatives approved the new surveillance law on 2008-06-20 by a 293 to 129 vote.[3] [4]
A Senate vote was delayed by a filibuster spearheaded by Senators Russ Feingold and Chris Dodd.[5] Feingold said the bill threatened civil liberties in the United States.[5] Senator Chris Dodd has said granting retroactive immunity would undermine the rule of law.[5] On July 9, Dodd's amendment calling for a striking of Title II (the immunity provisions) was rejected 66 to 32. [6] The bill itself was then put to a vote and passed 69 to 28.
Effects
- The provisions of the bill granting immunity to the complicit telecoms create a roadblock for a number of lawsuits intended to expose and thwart the alleged abuses of power and illegal activities of the federal government since and before the September 11th attacks.
- Allows the government to conduct surveillance of any person for up to one week (168 hours) without a warrant, increased from the previous 48 hours, as long as FISA is notified at the time such surveillance begins, and an application as usually required for surveillance authorization is submitted by the government to FISA within those 168 hours.
Netroots opposition
A group of netroots bloggers and Ron Paul supporters joined together to form a bipartisan political action committee, Accountability Now, in order to raise money during a one day money bomb, which, according to The Wall Street Journal, will be used to fund advertisements against Democratic and Republican lawmakers who supported the retroactive immunity of the telecoms.[7]
See also
References
- ^ "U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote Summary, Vote 00168, 100th Congress, 2nd Session". 2008-07-09.
- ^ Hess, Pamela (2008-06-20). "House immunizes telecoms from lawsuits". Associated Press.
- ^ a b Kane, Paul (2008-06-21). "House Passes Spy Bill; Senate Expected to Follow". Washington Post.
- ^ "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 437, June 20 2008".
- ^ a b c "Senators block consideration of wiretap bill". CNN. 2008-06-27.
- ^ "Vote Summary On Dodd Amendment (No. 5064) to strike title II". senate.gov. 2008-07-09.
- ^ Schatz, Amy (2008-07-08). "Paul Camp, Liberals Unite On Spy Bill". Wall Street Journal.
External links
- Template:Pdf, via Politico.com
- Accountability Now PAC
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