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Sunday, May 6, 2007 |
ArsTechnica: "Retroactive immunity from prosecution is a beautiful thing if you're a major telecommunications provider in the US, and phone companies are about to receive it if the Bush administration gets its way. The administration's new appropriations request for intelligence agencies was recently disclosed at a hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and it includes a massive gift to the phone companies who have been (can we drop the 'allegedly' at this point?) helping the NSA and other agencies.
As the government explains later in an analysis of the bill, 'companies that cooperate with the Government in the war on terror deserve our appreciation and protection - not litigation'. Any court case dealing with the issue would be thrown out of court, and the protection would include all phone company interaction with the intelligence community since September 11.
With Congress unwilling to figure out what was going on, individuals and advocacy groups began filing lawsuits against the phone companies. The EFF and others argued that communications privacy laws had been violated, but the government countered by claiming that a 'state secrets' privilege meant that the cases should simply be thrown out."
The biggest state secret - though it is out by now - is that the US government is a rogue government. The only reason for its secrecy is the criminal nature of its dealings.
11:02:15 AM 
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© Copyright 2007 Hetty Litjens.
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