EFF: Proposal in Congress Would Let Telecoms Off the Hook for Illegal Spying

[DAVID FARBER <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: EFF Press <press () eff org>
> Date: June 18, 2008 4:14:24 PM EDT
> To: presslist () eff org
> Subject: [E-B] EFF: Proposal in Congress Would Let Telecoms Off the  
> Hook for Illegal	Spying
> Reply-To: press () eff org
>
> Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release
>
> For Immediate Release: Wednesday, June 18, 2008
>
> Contact:
>
> Kevin Bankston
>   Senior Staff Attorney
>   Electronic Frontier Foundation
>   bankston () eff org
>   +1 415 436-9333 x126
>
> Rebecca Jeschke
>   Media Coordinator
>   Electronic Frontier Foundation
>   press () eff org
>   +1 415 436-9333 x125
>
> EFF Speaks Out Against Telecom Immunity Deal
>
> Proposal in Congress Would Let Telecoms Off the Hook for
> Illegal Spying
>
> Washington, D.C. - Congress is widely reported to have
> struck a deal on legislation to amend the Foreign
> Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that includes immunity
> for telecommunications companies that helped the government
> illegally spy on millions of ordinary Americans.  Today,
> the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) held a press
> conference with the ACLU to emphasize that this much-touted
> "compromise" is a sham aimed at letting both the government
> and the telecoms off the hook for violating the law and the
> Constitution.
>
> "Whatever gloss might be put on it, the so-called
> 'compromise' on immunity is anything but: the current
> proposal is the exact same blanket immunity that the Senate
> passed in February and that the House rejected in March,
> only with a few new bells and whistles so that political
> spinsters can claim that it actually provides meaningful
> court review," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin
> Bankston.  "We call on all members of Congress to reject
> this sham compromise and maintain the rule of law, rather
> than deprive the millions of ordinary Americans whose
> privacy rights were violated of their day in court."
>
> EFF is representing the plaintiffs in Hepting v. AT&T, a
> class action lawsuit brought on behalf of the millions of
> AT&T customers whose private domestic communications and
> communications records were illegally handed over to the
> National Security Agency (NSA).  EFF has been appointed
> co-coordinating counsel for all 47 of the outstanding
> lawsuits concerning the government's warrantless
> surveillance program.
>
> For Kevin Bankston's complete statement on the FISA deal
> from today's press conference:
> http://www.eff.org/files/filenode//EFF_bankston.pdf
>
> For this release:
> http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/06/18
>
> About EFF
>
> The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
> liberties organization working to protect rights in the
> digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
> challenges industry and government to support free
> expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
> organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
> websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/
>
>
>     -end-
>
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> https://falcon.eff.org/mailman/listinfo/presslist




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