Court rules for telecoms' role in domestic eavesdropping

[quest7]

A US appellate court has ruled that telecom companies have the right to legal immunity for helping the government eavesdrop on private communications. But in a separate opinion, the court also ruled that customers can sue the government for tracking e-mail and phone calls.

Court rules for telecoms' role in domestic eavesdropping - CSMonitor.com

 

[OstrichSaK]

...the right to legal immunity for helping the government...

This is a VERY dangerous statement.

 

[OutofDate1980]

Hey, the government just outsourced its spying on Americans. I imagine five members of the Supreme Court ruling this is OK, since the government didn't actually directly spy, but contracted it out to private corporations and it was only "using data provided by AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth.”

 

[copestag]

next we'll see the police hiring 'private contractors' to enter your home and search it without a warrant

 

[OutofDate1980]

What's not to like, corporations get a fat fee paid by taxpayers, and since corporations aren't constrained by the Hatch Act as government employees are, they can pay kickbacks/political donations to these politicians that provide the fat fees. This is why politicians love to outsource government services to the private sector.

 

[mike114]

next we'll see the police hiring 'private contractors' to enter your home and search it without a warrant

They don't need to go that far, they have the Patriot Act.