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Secret Text In Senate Bill Would Give FBI Warrantless Access To Email Records (theintercept.com)

mi quotes a report from The Intercept: A provision snuck into the still-secret text of the Senate's annual intelligence authorization would give the FBI the ability to demand individuals' email data and possibly web-surfing history from their service providers using those beloved 'National Security Letters' -- without a warrant and in complete secrecy. [The spy bill passed the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, with the provision in it. The lone no vote came from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who wrote in a statement that one of the bill's provisions "would allow any FBI field office to demand email records without a court order, a major expansion of federal surveillance powers." If passed, the change would expand the reach of the FBI's already highly controversial national security letters. The FBI is currently allowed to get certain types of information with NSLs -- most commonly, information about the name, address, and call data associated with a phone number or details about a bank account. The FBI's power to issue NSLs is actually derived from the Electronic Communications Privacy Act -- a 1986 law that Congress is currently working to update to incorporate more protections for electronic communications -- not fewer. The House unanimously passed the Email Privacy Act in late April, while the Senate is due to vote on its version this week. "NSLs have a sordid history. They've been abused in a number of ways, including targeting of journalists and use to collect an essentially unbounded amount of information," Andrew Crocker, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, wrote. One thing that makes them particularly easy to abuse is that recipients of NSLs are subject to a gag order that forbids them from revealing the letters' existence to anyone, much less the public.]

84 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. R.I.P. Land of the Free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    We should all be ashamed. We don't deserve freedom.

    1. Re:R.I.P. Land of the Free by whoozwah · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I disagree. Those that didn't oppose this don't deserve freedom.

    2. Re:R.I.P. Land of the Free by mi · · Score: 1

      We should all be ashamed. We don't deserve freedom.

      Should not it be passed by both Senate and Congress first? And then be signed by the President before we bury the country?

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    3. Re:R.I.P. Land of the Free by thaylin · · Score: 2

      I am sure the majority oppose this, it is just the leaders, who are power hungry, who do not. then again certain parties and their "if you got nothing to hide" and "there has to be a balance" arguments have fooled me before.

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    4. Re:R.I.P. Land of the Free by NatasRevol · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Bullshit.

      The majority hears 'it's for safety, you wouldn't want to help the terrorists kill children, would you' and, without a critical thought in their head, vote it and those leaders all the way to the courthouse.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    5. Re:R.I.P. Land of the Free by MachineShedFred · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Do you really think that those things aren't going to happen? Have you seen anything in the post- USA PATRIOT Act Congressional history that says that this won't become law except for the loud noises made from a few 'fringe' Senators that actually give a damn about the Bill of Rights?

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    6. Re:R.I.P. Land of the Free by CimmerianX · · Score: 1

      Don't forget about the kittens.... you forgot the kittens.

    7. Re:R.I.P. Land of the Free by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 2

      What, exactly, do you believe the (D) and (R) parties differ on, in areas like this? There are a few people on both sides that vehemently oppose laws like this, and are summarily pushed to the edge and called "kooks", and "extremists". And it works, because too many politicians are more concerned with getting reelected than doing what is right for our country.

      The problem is, we keep trading in our liberties, for the illusion of security, creating a monster state that has limitless power to enslave us all. I mean, if you're not doing anything wrong, what could you possibly want to hide?

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    8. Re: R.I.P. Land of the Free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      My wish is that the exemption of congressional staff is secretly removed at some point and our political leaders get to eat their own dog food. Who needs to be tracked more than those with the most money and power?

    9. Re:R.I.P. Land of the Free by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      The sad thing is that the majority supports this.

      Assent is lacking. We don't remember these violations long enough to keep voting out the weasels.

      As long as they have food on the table, people want dictators.

      By that token, people want anything. Dictators promise anything.

      Look at statistics on popular support for Snowden, for example.

      And his act is entirely misunderstood by so many. What we don't know is infinitely more dangerous than what is admitted to. Our enemies know. We should also

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    10. Re:R.I.P. Land of the Free by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Time for you to move elsewhere. Freedom and liberty are not given. They are literally, literally fought for, constantly. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. You choose.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    11. Re:R.I.P. Land of the Free by mattwarden · · Score: 2

      Talking about the majority opinion as if it matters hurts individual liberty. The majority is irrelevant when we are talking about individual rights.

    12. Re:R.I.P. Land of the Free by rahvin112 · · Score: 1

      They don't actually read the bills. That's why the FBI buries the clause deep in the bill. Thank god for Ron Wyden, that man has protected the public numerous times and I hope he's able to block this.

    13. Re: R.I.P. Land of the Free by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      All deserve freedom. Some will let it be taken from them. Others will not.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  2. US law needs to change by DrXym · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Any rider that is unrelated to the title or purpose of a bill should be automatically struck out. Maybe someone should slip this law in as a rider to another bill in order to make the point.

    1. Re:US law needs to change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Never going to happen because the people who could slip it in have a vest interest in keeping things the way they are.

    2. Re:US law needs to change by JeffOwl · · Score: 1

      Meh. Even IF it passed, it would never be used. That is part of the whole handshake deal of how laws get passed. Group A puts up a bill that group B is slightly against or doesn't care about. Group B whats a different law that A doesn't really like, so B tells A they will only vote for the bill if B's provision is inserted. The enforcement of the deal is in the fact that you are voting for both provision at the same time. BTW It is already part of the constitution of MN. The only time I've ever seen it enforced was when a provision relating to concealed carry was put into a DNR bill that also included some hunting changes. It wasn't done under the table either. It was well publicized and the combined bill passed, but was challenged.

    3. Re:US law needs to change by gurps_npc · · Score: 2

      Can't really do this, people find a way to claim it is related to anything.

      What they CAN do is give the original submitter of a bill veto power over all riders.

      --
      excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
    4. Re:US law needs to change by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 2

      Under trump we will not let stuff like Warrants, due process, jury's, bans on waterboarding, etc get in our way.

    5. Re:US law needs to change by DarkOx · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes and under Hillary we just won't worry about words mean so any existing law can be used however she wants and rules won't apply to herself and people she likes. That sounds so much better sign me up.

      Honestly I don't understand how ANYONE can make the case the Hillary is different than Trump other than what "team" she purports to be playing for.

      Hillary contradicting herself for 13min on just about every current issue:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      Look the only questions in this election are do you like the list Trump put forward for the SCOTUS candidates and do you want people like Paul Ryan to get legislation passed. If the answer is yes then vote for Trump because he isn't any worse than Hillary. The polls indicate he can actually win. If you abstain or vote for a third party you are effectively voting for Hillary that is the reality of the system.

      If you like what his happen in Washington right now vote HRC, but don't think for a second that makes you a more responsible person or anything of the sort. She isn't by any measure more qualified to be president than he is. She was unaccomplished as a Senator, and her tenure as sec State was nothing other than a string of failures and scandals. Having had an important job before that you performed terribly at isn't a qualification for promotion.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    6. Re:US law needs to change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Oh, I agree entirely.
      Argument over transgender rights has killed a major spending bill in Congress

      The rancorous political debate over sexual identity unexpectedly prompted the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to rejected an energy and water spending bill on Thursday after Democrats attached an amendment to protect the rights of transgender people

      However, your point is not applicable in this case because the so-called "snuck in provision" is part of the Senate's INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016 and is related to the FBI's counterintelligence duties which falls under purview of national security.

    7. Re:US law needs to change by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      It won't be used until it is needed by the Government to suppress the will of the people, and then it will be used against the enemies of the state (aka us citizens).

      That is how all these things work. And instead of preventing abuse by not allowing it in the first place, people (I'm guessing you're okay with this) like you allow such things to go through, under the illusion that they won't ever be abused. Naive at best, delusional at worst.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    8. Re:US law needs to change by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      You do know who writes the law, right? To change the law in our favor will require a voter referendum. I don't know if the feds recognize those things.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    9. Re:US law needs to change by dwillden · · Score: 1

      Amen. Not that I expect it to go anywhere, it may even already be dead, but Rep Mia Love of Utah has proposed H.R. 4335, or The One Subject at a Time Act that strives to do just that. Return some sense to the lawmaking process. and end these massive all inclusive bills with all their totally unrelated riders and amendments.

      --
      I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
    10. Re:US law needs to change by JeffOwl · · Score: 1

      Where did you get the idea that I'm okay with "this" (whatever "this" is)? Are you talking about the handshake deals or the single subject bill requirement? I am unhappy that the single subject law in MN is largely unenforced. If single subject isn't going to be consistently enforced (I don't believe it will be) then get rid of it rather than selectively enforcing it. I'm merely pointing out that the single subject rule won't work for the reasons I stated. It won't achieve the desired goal.

    11. Re:US law needs to change by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      I agree. More than anything, if you want to hold your representatives accountable, I think a political movement to end riders is possibly one of the best ways to do so. I feel it is on the same level as term limits. Indeed, it may be more important than term limits.

      Adding riders to otherwise vital bills has both the effect of ensuring that bad provisions are passed when they wouldn't have on their own merits, but also, it implicates legislators in decisions which they may not have supported if it had been a straight question of that provision.

    12. Re:US law needs to change by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      Yes. If they want to get a provision in, they should write their own bill to do so. Or at the very least, have an extremely strict and difficult process for unfriendly amendments.

      Unfriendly amendments do have a place, but the completely unrelated nature of a lot of amendments out there just shits all over the value of the concept.

    13. Re:US law needs to change by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      You start a movement to elect people who promise to eliminate riders and punish those who do not. And maintain consistency. There are groups out there that can be that insistent and get what they want (NRA, Norquist, etc), no reason that you can't get what you want... eventually.

      I do wish we could have some sort of referendum process for overriding Congress, though. Eliminating riders would be an excellent first step.

  3. The solution has been around for years. . . by Salgak1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    . . . .but J. Random User out there doesn't know of, much less use PGP or Gnu Privacy Guard. . .

    1. Re:The solution has been around for years. . . by CimmerianX · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I've had PGP for 7 years. In that time I've exchanged 2 keys..... and 1 belonged to my wife which I setup for her.

    2. Re:The solution has been around for years. . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      J Random User doesn't really care either. In fact, there are many people out there who have zero cares about privacy, saying, "I have nothing to hide", even posting his life onto social networks.

      The funny thing is that stuff gets saved forever. I personally have had to talk about USENET posts I made in sci.crypt back in 1991 when an interviewer asked about that (although it wasn't a bad thing.) What would be concerning is if some law came around that made the statute of limitations null for any crime that was "terroristic" in nature.

      I won't be surprised to see the other shoe drop... more criminal penalties for IP infringement, including making civil penalties criminal, similar to child support. The US has an entire private prison industry, and now that marijuana is legal, the prisons have to be packed somehow, so going after the "evil pirates" via mechanisms like indexing engines which export saved data from local files to a mother ship, wholesale scanning of offsite storage, and silent upgrades via OS update mechanisms to place RATs on people's systems is doable.

      We will see. The fact that people are getting anti-abortion ads because Facebook recorded them talking about pregnancies might wake people up.

    3. Re:The solution has been around for years. . . by KiloByte · · Score: 1

      PGP doesn't protect the metadata nor even email subject. Also, it isn't popular even among highly technical crowd. Right now, among 704 mails in my INBOX there's just two encrypted (despite 86 being signed).

      A good idea for privacy for mainstream users would be deploying DANE. It provides transport encryption that's not vulnerable to MITM -- and some ISPs already MITM all SMTP.

      Obviously, transport encryption doesn't protect you against the server reading your mail. The likes of Gmail read your mail themselves and, despite loudly saying otherwise, hardly ever fight govt requests, be it with a warrant or without. Too bad, running your own server reveals metadata even when encrypted (the ISPs and govt know who sent mails to whom, when and the size of the message).

      I don't really know how to solve the metadata problem. The best idea I have so far without inventing a new protocol are .onion MXes -- but I don't know of any server software implementing this.

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    4. Re:The solution has been around for years. . . by mlts · · Score: 1

      PGP is needed, because it does something few applications do -- it works regardless of the transport layer. I can PGP encrypt a document, E-mail it, or I can send it via SMS, MMS, copy it to a SD card and put it in a dead drop, post to alt.anonymous.messages, or any number of ways. In any case, the document will be encrypted, and signed, so the receiver is assured of its security, no matter how public the transportation is.

      Of course, PGP isn't perfect... it is a standard made in 1993. It needs forward secrecy, and a better binary to ASCII encoding scheme, preferably with the option of adding ECC. But it does work, and it is secure. It also will work with whatever the latest trendy messaging app will be come next year, just as well as it will work with ones from the past.

  4. "Secret Text In Senate Bill" by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 1

    And that is more important than the constitution?

    --
    Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
  5. Re:If you didn't vote Libertarian YOU ASKED FOR TH by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

    When did Sanders vote for 'it'? Since the issue in the TFA hasn't been voted on by anyone in full congress yet.

    --
    There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  6. The Constitution by waspleg · · Score: 1

    is just a piece of paper if people ignore it.

  7. Solution: Don't give your data away by Arthur+Fontaine · · Score: 1

    This is the problem the world seems to be overlooking. The absurd assumption is that we'll willingly give our most personal data away; we've evolved to a bizarro state where we must hand over our content to strangers in order for it to be useful to us. Email is just one example but it's the same across all vectors of your personal data corpus, including social, messaging, video, files, etc., etc., etc.... not to mention the "data exhaust" from your browsing, GPS, and commercial interactions.

    The only solution is to organize every person's data according to the PERSON WHO OWNS IT, not sprayed across myriad services, each with its own repository. Those are subject to all sorts of abuse, from corporations, governments, and criminals.

    It's time to change the data model to one that empowers human beings, not the institutions that have turned the digital screws on us since the beginning of the Internet. Here's my take on the opportunity:
    https://medium.com/@arthurfont...

    Does anybody here agree this could work? Or, more appropriately, could it be made to work based on the transformative value it delivers?

    --
    My other /. user ID is 5 digits.
    1. Re:Solution: Don't give your data away by Merk42 · · Score: 1

      So a "cloudspace" is something both no one can see (because privacy) but everyone can see (to inter-operate with other 'cloudspaces')? Might as well call it "Schroedingers Space"

    2. Re:Solution: Don't give your data away by Arthur+Fontaine · · Score: 1

      But I think we're really talking about controlled (and in this example, authenticated) access. That's not so revolutionary. You can see everything as data owner, but you only share with me what you want me to see. Just like every service out there now, except there's no middleman with uber-access to everything.

      I'd really be interested in a technical argument why this is un-doable. Or your alternative to the mess we've got now.

      --
      My other /. user ID is 5 digits.
    3. Re:Solution: Don't give your data away by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      "we've evolved to a bizarro state where we must hand over our content to strangers in order for it to be useful to us. "

      Yes. Like the Postal Service. Telephones.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    4. Re:Solution: Don't give your data away by Arthur+Fontaine · · Score: 1

      Neither of which requires you to grant access to the actual content, unlike Gmail which accesses it to sell you stuff, as do virtually all social networks. And, relevant to the OP, snail mail and phone content never could be intercepted without a warrant.

      I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you're not ok with the way things are going privacy-wise. Would you do anything to change it?

      --
      My other /. user ID is 5 digits.
    5. Re: Solution: Don't give your data away by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      You think warrants are always issued for mail intercepts, pen registers, and such?

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  8. Re:If you didn't vote Libertarian, well done. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    A vote against a Libertarian candidate is
    a good start. Move to Somalia if thats what you want.

  9. Re:If you didn't vote Libertarian YOU ASKED FOR TH by MachineShedFred · · Score: 4, Informative

    Dear Dipshit:

    Before spouting off nonsense and idiocy, please inform yourself on the workings of the Senate, or at least some basic information on which Senators sit on which committees. For example, when you specifically cite Senator Sanders as voting for this bill, you should probably not just make that up as that could be considered to be libel. To refute your absolutely false claim, I present you with the web site for the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence which prominently features the roster of Senators that sit on that committee, and thus vote to advance a bill for the full Senate to vote on. Please note that Senator Sanders is not among them, and also please note that this bill has not been debated on the Senate floor, much less voted to end debate, much less voted on final passage.

    Thank you, go take a god damn civics class, and don't post on anything happening in the Congress again until you do.

    --
    Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  10. Since when does law trump the Constituion? by acoustix · · Score: 1

    There's no way that this can be constitutional.

    --
    "A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
    1. Re:Since when does law trump the Constituion? by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      "Yes it can. Remember, the 4th amendment is based around your person, affects and residence. Email is typically stored by a third party, thus is not protected by the 4th."

      So paper, postal mail, is likewise not protected? Much law is written recognizing and enforcing such a right, and so must be extended to electronic mail.

      Does my residence no longer deserve protection when I leave it for work? No. My personal possessions, despite being removed from my presence, are still mine, and a reasonable expectation of privacy, security, is not diminished merely because I choose to use a door lock that the authorities can open surreptitiously, and so it should be with electronic possessions. In fact, despite my leaving my home unlocked, the authorities should know, and should be expected to know, that I did not give them consent to enter and rifle through my possessions merely because I did not secure it. A thief has no excuse, they are tried and found guilty despite my failing to lock the door. The authorities, unless they would use the thief's defense, that they did it because 'they could', have less excuse. They should know better.

      And that they grant themselves permission to do what they ought not do proves it.

      Vote them all out. All of them. Suffer only those who have not already betrayed you. And that is a short list indeed.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  11. Fourth Amendment vs. Second Amendment! by darthsilun · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If only there was an organization that was as rabid about upholding the Fourth Amendment as the NRA is about the Second Amendment.

    1. Re:Fourth Amendment vs. Second Amendment! by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      There is no big industry that depends on the 4th like there is for the 2nd. No money, no lobby

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    2. Re:Fourth Amendment vs. Second Amendment! by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      If only there weren't people who consider the Second Amendment obsolete/optional/meaningless, because encouraging lawmakers to ignore the parts you don't like just encourages them to ignore the parts you like....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    3. Re:Fourth Amendment vs. Second Amendment! by rickb928 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Amen.

      EFF, EFA, BMLP, RT4CHICAGO, ICANN, there are others. Know, understand, and support them.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    4. Re:Fourth Amendment vs. Second Amendment! by kqs · · Score: 2

      ACLU is quite rabid about protecting the Fourth, First, etc. The problem is that they have a tiny fraction of the NRA's budget. The problem is that people like talking but aren't so fond of putting money where their mouth is.

    5. Re:Fourth Amendment vs. Second Amendment! by phorm · · Score: 1

      I'm fairly sure that encryption vendors, IT firms, etc can make money on it, though not necessarily always directly.

    6. Re:Fourth Amendment vs. Second Amendment! by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Well, Apple might disagree with you. Of course you realize the 4th amendment only restricts the government and not the corporations.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    7. Re:Fourth Amendment vs. Second Amendment! by Agripa · · Score: 1

      They would have even less money or a lack of existence if they had protected the 2nd Amendment as well; when the ACLU was founded, one of the major monetary contributors made that stipulation. They continue to support the collective interpretation undermining their own position on individual rights belonging to "people".

    8. Re:Fourth Amendment vs. Second Amendment! by kqs · · Score: 1

      Why would they spend to protect the 2nd amendment, when it is well protected by the NRA? The NRA has about 10x the resources and cares about 1/10 as much of the Bill of Rights. I have no real problem with the NRA, but if you give money to it but not to the ACLU, EFF, or some similar organization, then you can't really complain when the First or Fourth amendments are endangered.

    9. Re:Fourth Amendment vs. Second Amendment! by Agripa · · Score: 1

      I just gave the reason; when the ACLU was founded, a stipulation from one of the major donors was that they *not* protect the 2nd Amendment.

      And in 1920, what was the NRA doing? When the NRA got involved, which did not happen until after the NFA in 1934, up until the 1970, it supported gun control.

  12. Mail in Australia by SeriousTube · · Score: 2

    My email provider, fastmail is in Australia so that should make it a little more difficult for them.

    1. Re:Mail in Australia by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      You think they would resist? The FBI is a world cop.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    2. Re:Mail in Australia by guppysap13 · · Score: 1

      I'm contemplating subscribing to Fastmail and have specifically looked into their privacy policy regarding NSLs, warrants, etc. Fastmail is in an interesting position legally - yes, they are an Australian company and are subject to Australian laws, but their primary mail servers are located in New York (there's a backup in...Amsterdam?). I'd like to think that they will be safe from the US government accessing your account data, but I don't know how that will hold up to the FBI/NSA if the servers are physically under this bill's jurisdiction. Check out https://www.fastmail.com/about/privacy.html if you're interested.

      Since the servers are in the US, they're likely still getting caught up in the NSA's metadata fishing schemes.(Is anyone else bothered by them calling it metadata? IT'S STILL DATA, just not necessarily the contents of the communication)

  13. Encrypt all the things by ControlsGeek · · Score: 1

    All the more reason to switch your e-mail off the Google or any other American host company and over to Ghostmail or Protonmail.
    The Swiss are serious about privacy.

    1. Re:Encrypt all the things by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 1

      Oh please. Swiss cheese is full of holes, so you can logically conclude that their security is full of holes too.

    2. Re:Encrypt all the things by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Well... The Swiss used to be serious about the privacy of financial information too. Then they stopped.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  14. Re:If you didn't vote Libertarian YOU ASKED FOR TH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    He hasn't physically voted for it but mark my words he will. Neither of the two major parties give a fuck about personal liberties and their sheep don't either. All the elected officials need to use worn out tactics such as "War on drugs, poverty, terrorism, racism, etc." and they will support just about anything the Republicrats and Democans put forth. The modding of my first comment clearly shows people are not willing to listen to anything just as long as their favorite carrot is dangled in front of them "Welfare both for the poor and the rich; protection from those evil drug dealers, terrorists, racists, communists, etc." The people are so blinded by their own selfish wants and desires they don''t see they are being used as pawns in a chess match between the two major parties, neither of which give a fuck about the constitution or the liberties granted by the constitution. If they did give a fuck why are they constantly talking about removing liberties rather than protecting them?

    ______________________________________
    A vote against a Libertarian candidate is
    a vote to abolish the Constitution itself

  15. Keep in mind this is illegal by shaitand · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Congress is not empowered by the Constitution to bypass the requirement of a warrant under any circumstance. A member of congress having any part of this bill is treason.

    1. Re:Keep in mind this is illegal by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Well, until there is sufficient demand to bring up charges, we'll just have to sit and watch the disaster unfold.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    2. Re:Keep in mind this is illegal by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Treason is rather specifically defined in the Constitution. This is not treason. Malfeasance, yes, and violation of their oath of office, etc., but not treason.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    3. Re:Keep in mind this is illegal by shaitand · · Score: 1

      I assume you are referring to Article 3 Section 3 which defines treason against the United States. This is treason against the people. The war on terror is a codename for a war against the people.

  16. Re:If you didn't vote Libertarian YOU ASKED FOR TH by SecurityGuy · · Score: 1

    Putting a libertarian in office isn't going to imperil any of those things.

    Certainly, there are libertarian crackpots out there. I met one who kept referring to schools as "child prisons", for example. Nearly all of the US government is composed of not-libertarians, though, so all you're doing by voting some in is getting some voices to counterbalance notions like it being OK to read our email without a warrant.

  17. So let me try to figure this out by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1, Insightful

    So we have some secrete text in a bill that may be come law that supposedly allows my government to avoid going to a secrete court to get a secrete warrant to spy on me and instead just secretly spy on me. At this point it seems that it should be a perfect acceptable defense to state that one is ignorant of the law as there is so much effort being put into keeping the law from the governed. Hammurabi's code was put up in public so that people would know what the law was, now it is secretes the whole way down.

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    Time to offend someone
    1. Re:So let me try to figure this out by edittard · · Score: 1

      secrete

      That word does not mean what you think it does.

      --
      At the bottom of the /. main page it says 'Yesterday's News'. Well they got that right.
  18. Re:If you didn't vote Libertarian, well done. by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

    Obviously, you think North Korea is the prime example of good government. Somolia isn't a Libertarian Government, it is Anarchy. However, North Korea is a fine example of unlimited Statism, which is what you seem to support.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  19. Re:If you didn't vote Libertarian YOU ASKED FOR TH by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 2

    For Complete safety, one must move to North Korea, where the Government dictates everything. And since you are against Liberty, I suggest that is the perfect example of what a world without liberty looks like.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  20. Re:If you didn't vote Libertarian YOU ASKED FOR TH by rickb928 · · Score: 1

    What you said.

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    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  21. Re:If you didn't vote Libertarian YOU ASKED FOR TH by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

    So, 'voted' past tense is a guarantee by you of future action of someone else who typically doesn't vote for this sort of stuff. And I didn't ask about the R or D actions.

    Ohhh Kayyyyy

    --
    There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  22. 4th Amendment by Holi · · Score: 1

    Since when can Congress bypass a Constitutional amendment with a mere law?

    --
    Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
  23. Gary Johnson by Avarist · · Score: 1

    I hear the libertarians are against this kind of things, it's almost as if voting for them is the only way to stop this kind of foul behaviour.

    --
    In Capitalist US, the commerce controls the Government.
  24. Re:If you didn't vote Libertarian YOU ASKED FOR TH by tnk1 · · Score: 1

    Maybe, but he has a point. Nowhere has Sanders been involved in this, yet. Will he? No idea. Maybe.

    Mind you, I have no intention of supporting Sanders or his platform, but it's not necessary to make shit up about him.

  25. Re:If you didn't vote Libertarian YOU ASKED FOR TH by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

    Yeah, except that I didn't vote for Bernie in my primary when I had the opportunity to do so. But don't let little things like facts get in the way of a good anonymous smear.

    --
    Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  26. Re:ZIP Encryption by CCarrot · · Score: 2

    It is like the right to bear guns: You will only have it as long as you exercise it.

    Indeed. Trouble is, we're running out of bears around here... ;-)

    --
    "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
  27. Re:If you didn't vote Libertarian YOU ASKED FOR TH by ausekilis · · Score: 1

    Thank you, go take a god damn civics class, and don't post on anything happening in the Congress again until you do.

    Wait... Things are happening in this Congress? I thought we discussed their inaction before.

  28. broken by definition by almechist · · Score: 1

    Honestly I don't understand how ANYONE can make the case the Hillary is different than Trump other than what "team" she purports to be playing for.

    The difference is this: under president Hillary nothing changes at all from what we have now, and under the Donald it's looking very likely to get worse but with a remote possibility that some small things might actually change.

    Frankly, I don't know if I can bring myself to vote for either one of them, not even in protest of the other. It's fucking ridiculous, the Republicans are running a "Man of the People" who's a billionaire, and the Democrats are running the one single person in America so hated she could actually lose to him. The system is broken by definition if it's come to this.

  29. Re:Secret Rules for Secretive People by HiThere · · Score: 1

    Sorry. SOME of the Founding Fathers would be appalled and ashamed. Others would think it was a dandy idea. Check out the Alien and Sedition acts, and when they were passed.

    WE are the people who should be appalled and ashamed.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  30. U.S. Constitution: Read It! by BrendaEM · · Score: 1

    So many deluded people in our government who don't know the first thing about America.

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    https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
  31. Re:If you didn't vote Libertarian YOU ASKED FOR TH by Anpatt7 · · Score: 1

    We still have things that are at least named both those things, as required courses (at least in some areas)

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    If we start ignoring all of our constitutional rights because of terrorism, then what are we fighting for at that point?