Mar 17, 2008 : House Passes Surveillance Bill
📅 - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org) announced on Friday that The House of Representatives has passed by a narrow margin a surveillance bill that does not grant retroactive immunity for telecom providers alleged to have helped in the National Security Agency's unauthorized wiretapping program. The telecoms may have aided the US government listen in on American phone calls and emails without court permission following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The House bill was passed, 213 to 197, despite the president's vow to veto any bill that does not include immunity. House Democrats say a federal judge should decide whether the wiretapping was legal, while President Bush prefers a Senate version of the bill which would give companies legal immunity. He says the bill is unfair for telecoms because it does not protect them from civil lawsuits.
The bill would allow lawsuits like the EFF's current case against AT&T (att.com) to go through while providing specific security procedures enabling the telecom giants to defend themselves in court.
"We applaud the House for refusing to grant amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms, and for passing a bill that would allow our lawsuit against AT&T to proceed fairly and securely," says Kevin Bankston, Electronic Frontier Foundation senior staff attorney. "Amnesty proponents have been claiming on the Hill for months that phone companies like AT&T had a good faith belief that the NSA program was legal. Under this bill, the companies could do what they should have been able to do all along: tell that story to a judge."
Founded in 1990, the San Francisco, California-based EFF is an international non-profit advocacy and legal organization that strives to defend free speech rights in the context of the digital age.
The Senate is expected to consider the House bill when it returns from recess on March 31. In the meantime, House and Senate staff are said to reach a compromise between the new House bill and a past Senate bill that includes immunity provisions.
The House bill was passed, 213 to 197, despite the president's vow to veto any bill that does not include immunity. House Democrats say a federal judge should decide whether the wiretapping was legal, while President Bush prefers a Senate version of the bill which would give companies legal immunity. He says the bill is unfair for telecoms because it does not protect them from civil lawsuits.
The bill would allow lawsuits like the EFF's current case against AT&T (att.com) to go through while providing specific security procedures enabling the telecom giants to defend themselves in court.
"We applaud the House for refusing to grant amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms, and for passing a bill that would allow our lawsuit against AT&T to proceed fairly and securely," says Kevin Bankston, Electronic Frontier Foundation senior staff attorney. "Amnesty proponents have been claiming on the Hill for months that phone companies like AT&T had a good faith belief that the NSA program was legal. Under this bill, the companies could do what they should have been able to do all along: tell that story to a judge."
Founded in 1990, the San Francisco, California-based EFF is an international non-profit advocacy and legal organization that strives to defend free speech rights in the context of the digital age.
The Senate is expected to consider the House bill when it returns from recess on March 31. In the meantime, House and Senate staff are said to reach a compromise between the new House bill and a past Senate bill that includes immunity provisions.
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