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IP: Re: House Passes Roving Wiretaps
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 07:13:56 -0400
X-Sender: cdt5 () shell cais com Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 20:21:12 -0500 To: farber () cis upenn edu From: Alan Davidson <abd () CDT ORG> Subject: Re: IP: House Passes Roving Wiretaps Dave -- Thanks for posting that note on roving wiretaps. This evening the Senate passed the Intelligence Authorization Conference Report (they had almost no choice) and now the roving wiretaps provisions will almost certainly become law. Perhaps even more disturbing than this expansion of federal surveillance authority is the way that it happened. Even though neither the House nor Senate version of the authorization bill contained roving wiretaps, and even though a similar provision was rejected by the full House in open debate just last Congress, this FBI-wish list item was snuck onto the must-pass conference report behind closed doors. Those Members of Congress who even knew it was there were faced with no choice but to approve it or reject the authorization bill and shut down the entire intelligence establishment (as attractive as that latter option might sound at times(!), you can understand why most of Congress did not vote that way...) As I said in one wire story today: To take a controversial provision that affects the fundamental constitutional liberties of the people and pass it behind closed doors shows a shocking disregard for our democratic process. -- Alan Alan Davidson, Staff Counsel 202.637.9800 (v) Center for Democracy and Technology 202.637.0968 (f) 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 1100 <abd () cdt org> Washington, DC 20006 PGP key via finger
\ Subject: House Passes Roving Wiretaps Date: Wed, 07 Oct 1998 19:33:17 -0700 From: John Gilmore <gnu () toad com> Fhttp://www.cdt.org/legislation/calea/roving.html House Passes Roving Wiretaps, Expanding Federal Surveillance Powers October 7, 1998 In a closed-door manuever, controversial "roving wiretap" provisions have been added to a major Intelligence authorization bill and passed by the House. Current wiretapping law allows tapping of a particular person's phones. The new provisions would dramatically expand current authority by allowing taps on any phone used by, or "proximate" to, the person being tapped -- no matter whose phone it is. Such a broad law invites abuse. In the last Congress, the full House of Representatives rejected these provisions after an open and vigorous debate. This week, behind closed doors, a conference committee added the provisions to the important Intelligence Authorization Conference Report, almost certain to pass the Congress. The provisions were not in either the original House or Senate versions of the bill. CDT is particularly concerned that such an expansion of federal authority should take place without a public debate.
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- IP: Re: House Passes Roving Wiretaps Dave Farber (Oct 09)