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Feb. 13, 2008

Yesterday, in a widely expected move, the U.S. Senate passed a surveillance bill that effectively grants retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies and telcos that may have participated in President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping initiative.

After many months of debate and a long extension for the expiring bill, the Senate approved a new version of the bill that greatly expands the government’s eavesdropping powers.

The new bill also protects telecom companies that cooperated with previous surveillance programs.

The new bill is an update to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires that the government receive court approval before spying in the United States on any suspected foreign terrorists.

The government will no longer have to get court approval before it begins listening in on suspected subjects as long as they are not American citizens. The court will still look into any wiretapping the government does, but only after the fact and to ensure no efforts are being made against U.S. citizens.

The President applauded the Senate’s move and urged the House to follow suit. The executive branch held the inclusion of the telecom immunity clause as crucial to the bill.

Some 40 suits are pending accusing AT&T, Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless of violating customers’ rights by aiding the government in spying programs begun after the Sept. 11, terrorist attacks.

Some members of the Senate, as well as civil liberties groups, opposed the immunity clause, saying it rewards companies for breaking the law. Others have argued that the companies were acting in good faith, and that punishing them could make it more difficult to retain cooperation with ongoing surveillance efforts.

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Source: The U.S. Senate.

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