quzar
November 15th, 2007, 00:10
Excerpt from article:
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From an email from an ACLU rep.:
The Democratic Judiciary Committee staff is floating substitution language that would make the government responsible for illegal activity committed by the telecom companies.
Congress must reject any attempts to provide immunity to those that broke the law. If the government assumes legal responsibility for lawbreaking for the telecoms, the companies will be let-off the hook for their illegal actions. It also means the taxpayers will be responsible for any damages. The ACLU strongly and firmly opposes the substitution, which is, in essence, telecom immunity.
If this substitution language gets enacted, we know that the government will stop the lawsuits by arguing: states secrets, executive privilege, and sovereign immunity in order to stop the people from having their day in court against the telecom giants.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up the domestic surveillance legislation tomorrow morning.
And the House is expected to vote tomorrow too, although it is not yet clear exactly what they are voting on yet.
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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/14/breaking-fisa-bill-discussion-now-call-your-senators/
http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/14/contact/
There is a bill that is going to be voted on, which if enacted, would allow the government to take responsibility for the illegal activities of telecom corporations. What does this mean? People using a phone or internet service would not have legal recourse to go after their service provider for illegally sharing your communications with the government. Yes, the companies would now have no reason not to wiretap you, and there would be basically nothing you could do about it.
So, I know this is last minute, but call your senator, hell, call any senator, and complain. It's not right. Dystopian future ahoy!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From an email from an ACLU rep.:
The Democratic Judiciary Committee staff is floating substitution language that would make the government responsible for illegal activity committed by the telecom companies.
Congress must reject any attempts to provide immunity to those that broke the law. If the government assumes legal responsibility for lawbreaking for the telecoms, the companies will be let-off the hook for their illegal actions. It also means the taxpayers will be responsible for any damages. The ACLU strongly and firmly opposes the substitution, which is, in essence, telecom immunity.
If this substitution language gets enacted, we know that the government will stop the lawsuits by arguing: states secrets, executive privilege, and sovereign immunity in order to stop the people from having their day in court against the telecom giants.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up the domestic surveillance legislation tomorrow morning.
And the House is expected to vote tomorrow too, although it is not yet clear exactly what they are voting on yet.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/14/breaking-fisa-bill-discussion-now-call-your-senators/
http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/14/contact/
There is a bill that is going to be voted on, which if enacted, would allow the government to take responsibility for the illegal activities of telecom corporations. What does this mean? People using a phone or internet service would not have legal recourse to go after their service provider for illegally sharing your communications with the government. Yes, the companies would now have no reason not to wiretap you, and there would be basically nothing you could do about it.
So, I know this is last minute, but call your senator, hell, call any senator, and complain. It's not right. Dystopian future ahoy!