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

> HOUSE DEMS WHO CHANGED THEIR VOTE TO SUPPORT FISA BILL, GIVING IMMUNITY TO THE
> LCOS, RECEIVED, ON AVERAGE, $8,359 IN PAC CONTRIBUTIONS FROM VERIZON, AT&T, AND SPRINT
<http://www.maplight.org/FISA_June08>
BERKELEY, CA—Last week, on June 20, the House of Representatives approved a compromise bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). The bill sets new electronic surveillance rules that effectively shield telecommunications companies from lawsuits resulting from the government’s warrantless eavesdropping on phone calls and viewing of emails of private citizens in the U.S. Approximately 40 lawsuits have been filed with potential damages totaling in the billions of dollars.
On March 14 of this year the House passed an amendment that rejected retroactive immunity for phone carriers who helped the National Security Agency carry out the illegal wiretapping program without proper warrants. Ninety-four House Democrats voted in favor of this measure--rejecting immunity--on March 14, then ‘changed’ to vote in favor of the June 20 House bill--approving immunity.

“Why did these ninety-four House members have a change of heart?” asked Daniel Newman, executive director of MAPLight.org, “Their constituents deserve answers.



from quarterman.org
It's not just the immmediate contributions.  It's also:
 - pressure from key politicos who got more money than others,
        such as Jay Rockefeller
 - the implied promise of more telecom largesse
 - continuous lobbying by former colleagues and employees
 - lots of "help" writing bills
 - multiple PACs and lobbying firms laundering the telecom money
 - small opposition: the amount AT&T alone spent lobbying in Q1 2008
        is more than EFF's entire annual budget
 - the expectation of cushy lobbying or industry jobs after Congress
 - the comfortable feeling that this is just the way things are done

See Glenn Greenwald's writeup on all this:

 http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/24/telecoms/index.html?source=rss

What is to be done?

As taxpayers and constituents, ask Congress to do different.
The Senate has yet to vote on this bill.  Russ Feingold and Chris Dodd
have promised to filibuster against it.  Call Congress and ask to talk
to your Senator.  Toll free number:

 1 (800) 459-1887

Due to public outcry, Harry Reid is now scheduling the vote in
such a way as likely to delay it.  It's scheduled for today.

Elect better Congress members.

Donna Edwards and Bill Foster both won seats in Congress by opposing
the Iraq war and opposing telecom amnesty.  Foster won the seat
formerly occupied by the Republican Speaker of the House.

And remember, these are the same companies that are using the
same techniques to do away with net neutrality:

 http://riskman.typepad.com/peerflow/2008/06/banana-republic-dc-telecom-lobbying-revolving-door.html

-jsq