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from: FindLaw

Even if You Have Nothing to Hide, Government Surveillance Threatens Your Freedom

October 19, 2007
By John W. Dean

“I’ve got nothing to hide, so electronic surveillance doesn’t bother me. To the contrary, I’m delighted that the Bush Administration is monitoring calls and electronic traffic on a massive scale, because catching terrorists is far more important that worrying about the government’s listening to my phone calls, or reading my emails.” So the argument goes. It is a powerful one that has seduced too many people.

from: Washington Post

Immunity for Telecoms May Set Bad Precedent, Legal Scholars Say

“The unfortunate reality is that once you’ve done it, once you immunize interrogators or phone companies, then it’s easy to do it again in another context.” Retired Rear Adm. John Huston, Franklin Pierce Law Center

from: Wired

Call for Reader Help: Where Does Your Senator Stand on Spying Immunity?

By Ryan Singel
October 16, 2007

Two key Senate committees are working on introducing a measure reworking what powers the government has to wiretap communications transiting phone and internet switches, and the administration and the nation's telecoms are pushing for immunity from lawsuits alleging the companies massively violated the nation's privacy laws by aiding the government's secret spying programs.

from: Broadband Reports

Senator Dodd Fights Telco Wiretap Suit Immunity
And how much does getting immunity from the law cost these days, anyway?

10:00AM Friday Oct 19 2007 by Karl

As we mentioned yesterday, an incredibly well-lobbied Congress has decided to give AT&T and Verizon retroactive immunity for their roles in handing over customer data to the NSA without a court order. The proposed deal would derail cases like the EFF's against AT&T, who has been accused of building entire rooms tasked with shoveling customer voice and Internet data (from multiple carriers) to Uncle Sam without any kind of judicial oversight.

from: Washington Post

Verizon Says It Turned over Data Without Court Orders

From Washington Post, October 16, 2007
By Ellen Nakashima

Verizon Communications, the nation’s second-largest telecom company, told congressional investigators that it has provided customers’ telephone records to federal authorities in emergency cases without court orders hundreds of times since 2005.

from: CNET

Phone carriers quiet on U.S. surveillance program

By Reuters
Published: October 15, 2007, 5:27 PM PDT

Major U.S. telephone carriers refused to answer questions from the Democratic-led Congress about their possible participation in President Bush's warrantless domestic spying program, according to documents released by lawmakers Monday.