New "JUSTICE" Act Could Roll Back Telecom Immunity

Asmodae writes to tell us about a bill proposed in Congress that could roll back telecom retroactive immunity along with adding other privacy safeguards. The "Judicious Use of Surveillance Tools in Counter-Terrorism Efforts" (JUSTICE) Act advocates the "least intrusive means" of information collection and imposes many limitations on the process. "One of the most significant aspects of the JUSTICE Act is that it will remove the retroactive immunity grants that were given to the telecom companies that participated in the NSA warrantless surveillance program. The companies that cooperated with the surveillance program likely violated several laws, including section 222 of the Communications Act, which prohibits disclosure of network customer information. The immunity grants have prevented the telecommunications companies that voluntarily participated in this program from being held accountable in court."

Re:ooh

[nomadic]

Oops, meant "might not be completely the opposite of what it stands for."

Re:Cue the flying monkey right in...

[h4rr4r]

Except for the little fact that they need the judiciary's approval for stuff like this, we call those approvals warrants.

The executive branch does not have the power to break the law, no matter what two republican presidents have suggested.

Re:Cue the flying monkey right in...

[bigstrat2003]

The Nuremberg example has nothing to do with legality. It has to do with morality. The actions of the Nazis were legal in Germany at the time, but they were still heinous and wrong. Similarly, while the government may have told the telecoms that their acts were legal (which they may not even have been, because although IANAL, I would say that widespread warrantless wiretapping is in violation of the Constitution), that does not necessarily have bearing on whether the acts were wrong and should be punished.

Re:Cue the flying monkey right in...

[Daimanta]

"The point here is that the Government previously said it was legal. Then after the fact, pull the rug out from underneath organizations in order to prosecute them."

That's exactly what happened in Nuremberg. The nazi-government sanctioned violating dozens of rules and the people who executed those rules were later tried for following orders.

The idea of Nuremberg is that you cannot hide behind what the government orders.