Slashdot Mirror
House Passes Bill To Renew NSA Internet Spying Tool (reuters.com)
Dustin Volz, reporting for Reuters: The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to renew the National Security Agency's warrantless internet surveillance program, overcoming objections from privacy advocates and confusion prompted by morning tweets from President Donald Trump that initially questioned the spying tool. The legislation, which passed 256-164 and split party lines, is the culmination of a yearslong debate in Congress on the proper scope of U.S. intelligence collection -- one fueled by the 2013 disclosures of classified surveillance secrets by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Senior Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives had urged cancellation of the vote after Trump appeared to cast doubt on the merits of the program, but Republicans forged ahead.
...is watching how long slashdot takes to release one of the twitter "shadowban" stories currently burning up its firehose all morning...
Until there are meaningful restrictions and requirements to report "incidental" collections of Americans communications then we know this still law and others are being used for mass surveillance of Americans on American soil.
When congress yet again passes the buck on this law it will be up to the President to step up and order those restrictions and reporting be put into place.
When congress yet again passes the buck on this law it will be up to the President to step up and order those restrictions and reporting be put into place.
Unfortunately one of the few examples of bipartisanship coming out of Washington over the past decade or so has been the continual support for the erosion of Americans' rights in the name of fighting terrorism.
#DeleteChrome
This is EXACTLY why the people *MUST* have access to unbreakable encryption. The government doesn't have any right to know when someone's spouse asks them to pick up milk on their way home!
Somewhat encouraging to see President Trump express some push back and to see 183 votes for some reform.
President Trump could easily just order additional reforms himself, or at least order a report on how many Americans are getting their communications swept up without a warrant.
Here is a breakdown of the vote. I wish news outlets would simply provide a link to this and make life easier.
Much of the opposition came from Democrats, though the vote did produce a striking coalition of conservatives and liberals who backed an alternative that would have imposed stricter protections for Americans whose information got snared in the data dragnet. https://m.washingtontimes.com/...
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is prepared to filibuster the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is up for a vote in the House to authorize a six-year extension, in an effort to get warrant requirement for Americans.
“My worry is that they also collect information on millions of Americans, and I don’t want that database to be searched without a warrant,” “I will filibuster and do whatever to stop that,” he added.
In the event that protections were included for U.S. citizens’ private information, Paul said he would support reauthorizing Section 702.
Hmmm.. Bipartisan support and you and Rand Paul (R) are pissed off.. .Nice...
Might there be a valid reason we need this law that both parties in congress actually recognizes? Need this always be attributed to some nefarious intent?
Have your temper tantrum but your best way to block this is in the Senate anyway. You can count on Rand Paul to oppose this, just get the democrats to vote as a block and this is scuttled...
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
We all expected the republicans to vote for it, but 44 didn't. With those votes the democrats could have stopped it, but didn't. In truth they're not really against it. So they throw in just enough votes to squeeze it through, and make various excuses. You can save your breath, the renewals will pass no matter who is swinging the gavel.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Might there be a valid reason we need this law that both parties in congress actually recognizes?
No, but I have always acknowledge that the majority isn't really against it. Doesn't make it right, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Need this always be attributed to some nefarious intent?
History speaks for itself. It's just the way people play. *I can accept that*.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Except his second tweet said that he didn't support the privacy exceptions and his concern was the ability of government to "unmask" americans colluding with foreign governments.
Don't fool yourself, Trump fully supports this as do most of the Republicans and Democrats. There are a few people on both sides opposing the bill and pushing the privacy protections but if counted by party (which you shouldn't) more Democrats wanted the privacy restrictions than Republicans.
You can report it the same way the news media reports Trump stories:
"Industry experts are reacting to reports of alleged [...] from anonymous sources who claim to be close to the individuals at the event who also wish to remain anonymous."
Good enough for Pulitzer Prize winning news outlets, good enough for Slashdot.
your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
He also announced his support for the program 10 minutes after he expressed pushback.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
It's not great, it sucks, and we can blame the cowardly mindless morons who played right into Osama Bin Laden's hand after 9/11. This is exactly what he wanted.