Obama Wimps Out Over Telecom ImmunityWhere once he'd fillibuster, now says he won't...
09:53AM Thursday Jun 26 2008 by Karl Bodetags: legal · business · telco · privacy · PoliticsAs I've noted, the
latest incarnation of FISA would give AT&T and Verizon a "get out of jail free card" for handing over millions of Americans' Internet and phone data without a warrant. Despite supporting a fillibuster of an earlier version of FISA with immunity, Presidential hopeful Barack Obama at a press conference yesterday said he wouldn't support the latest fillibuster and
will be supporting this latest immunity push (also see
video):
"The bill has changed. So I don't think the security threats have changed, I think the security threats are similar. My view on FISA has always been that the issue of the phone companies per se is not one that overrides the security interests of the American people."
The problem being the bill hasn't really changed. AT&T, Verizon and Sprint will still be able to avoid billions in penalties for handing over user data wholesale to the NSA (and in AT&T's case, allegedly funneling all
other ISP traffic to the NSA) without judicial oversight. Civil Libertarians are clearly annoyed that neither telcos nor politicians will be held accountable for this digital erosion of privacy (or perhaps the
illusion thereof).
