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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."
There is no evidence that anyone in the government asked the telecoms to break the law.
There is plenty of evidence that the government asked the telecoms to do something that also happened to be against the law, but there is no evidence that the telecoms knew anything about the illegality of the actions when doing it. In fact, all evidence, including the telecom immunity provisions this bill is concerned with over turning, indicates that the telecoms did not know what they were doing was illegal.
There always was ways to get wire taps without warrants. There has always been legal proccedures for government departments or investigating officers to get phone tapes without a warrant. It involves special circumstances and a statement that the person requesting the tap has the legal authority to do so with a signature by some responsible people. The AG is one but others are capable of doing it to. The telecom immunity law specifically require this statement detailing the government had a legal right to the information and it required the agency (AG's office) to certify if they issues the request or not. Only then does the cases get dropped and become barred from being brought back up.
That immunity isn't anything new either. Existing law before the immunity outlines a complete defense from all criminal and civil actions against the telecoms if the government presents them with documentation claiming they have the legal right to the information. All the immunity law does is provide a vehicle so the complete defense laws can be used without violating national security secrets and placing the telecoms in violation of federal laws. The documents concerning the TSP have been classified and disclosing them or information on them would be a felony containing jail time.
The telecoms do not need to be forced, coerced or threatened, they just need the government to act under the color of law and they have a complete defense by statute. The immunity laws this bill is concerned with did nothing but protect the telecoms when the government acted under the color of law. The reason this is provided is because the telecoms are required by law to cooperate with the government for providing taps and facilities to make it easier.