The Government Lied About Being Able To Read Your Email Without A WarrantRep. Mike Rogers, the NSA can in fact get into your email with just an account name. New revelations via the Guardian detail precisely how it works. You have no digital privacy. This is simply another chapter of the NSA scandal in which the government attempted through false narrative to confuse t..
MIT in Aaron Swartz Case: Not Neutral, Not Leading, Not Standing Up for TechnologistsIn January, our friend Aaron Swartz killed himself. Aaron was unable to carry on against an overzealous government prosecution enforcing a grossly unfair and outdated law. We, and millions of others around the world, were saddened beyond words.
Student receives more than $4 mln after being ‘forgotten’ in jail for five daysA University of California student spent five days forgotten in a windowless jail cell without food and water, and was forced to drink his own urine to survive. Now, the US government is voluntarily paying the young man $4.1 million to avoid a lawsuit.
The Bradley Manning Verdict and the Dangerous “Hacker Madness” Prosecution StrategyBradley Manning was convicted (PDF) on 19 counts today, including charges under the Espionage Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for leaking approximately 700,000 government documents to WikiLeaks. While it was a relief that he was not convicted of the worst charge “aiding the enemy,” the verdict remains deeply troubling and could potentially result in a sentence of life in prison.
Warrantless Cellphone Tracking Is UpheldIn a significant victory for law enforcement, a federal appeals court on Tuesday said that government authorities could extract historical location data directly from telecommunications carriers without a search warrant. The closely watched case, in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, is the first ruling that squarely addresses the constitutionality of warrantless searches of historical location data stored by cellphone service providers.
MIT denies targeting Aaron SwartzThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology has released a report claiming that administrators never targeted information activist Aaron Swartz and committed no wrongdoings. The university claims it remained neutral throughout the case. In a 180-page document released on Tuesday, MIT revealed long-awaited information about its involvement in the prosecution of Swartz, a 26-year-old computer programmer who hanged himself last January.
FISA court judge: No company has ever challenged Patriot Act sharingNSA leaks View all… According to one of the 11 judges that sits on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), no corporation ever served with a “business record” court order under the Patriot Act has ever challenged one, even though the law provides them a means to do so.
European Parliamentarians call on President Obama to free Bradley ManningJuly 29, 2013. Seventeen MEPs have written a letter calling on U.S. President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to free WikiLeaks whistle-blower Army Pfc. Bradley Manning. The MEPs laud Manning for exposing “evidence of human rights abuses and apparent war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan” in accordance with international law.
FBI sued for keeping secret their file on journalist Michael HastingsTwo investigative journalists are suing the FBI after the government failed to respond on time to a pair of Freedom of Information Act requests filed for details on the death of reporter Michael Hastings. Jason Leopold and Ryan Shapiro filed a joint suit on Friday after the Federal Bureau of Investigation neglected to respond to their FOIA requests within the 20-working day period required by law.
Some Chiefs Chafing as Justice Department Keeps Closer Eye on PolicingWhen Justice Department officials announced the results of a two-year investigation into civil rights violations at the Miami Police Department this month, it was the 11th time in two years that the federal government had put a local law enforcement agency on notice that it must change its ways or face a federal lawsuit.
FBI admits to flying drones over US without warrantsThe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says it has used drones for domestic surveillance purposes in the United States at least ten times without obtaining warrants. In three additional cases, drones were authorized but “not actually used.” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Thursday published a letter from FBI Assistant Director Stephen D.
Cop Fired for Speaking Out Against Ticket and Arrest QuotasAuburn, Alabama is home to sprawling plains, Auburn University, and a troubling police force. After the arrival of a new police chief in 2010, the department entered an era of ticket quotas and worse.
Lawmakers Who Upheld NSA Phone Spying Received Double the Defense Industry CashThe numbers tell the story – in votes and dollars. On Wednesday, the House voted 217 to 205 not to rein in the NSA’s phone-spying dragnet. It turns out that those 217 “no” voters received twice as much campaign financing from the defense and intelligence industry as the 205 “yes” voters.
Pittsburgh SWAT sued for ‘terrorizing’ young family at gunpointA Pennsylvania family has filed a lawsuit against the Pittsburgh police department, claiming that two dozen SWAT team members raided their home and terrorized their two children in retaliation for a prior incident involving an officer outside a local bar.
SEC seeking warrant exemption for private email accessThe US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has become the latest federal government agency to push for greater access to private email data. An agency proposal next week is expected to request warrantless powers.
State AGs Ask Congress to Gut Critical CDA 230 Online Speech ProtectionsEarlier today, 47 state attorneys general asked Congress to severely undermine the most important law protecting free speech on the Internet.
Feds put heat on Web firms for master encryption keysWhether the FBI and NSA have the legal authority to obtain the master keys that companies use for Web encryption remains an open question, but it hasn’t stopped the U.S. government from trying. (Credit: Declan McCullagh) The U.S. government has attempted to obtain the master encryption keys that Internet companies use to shield millions of users’ private Web communications from eavesdropping.
Russia Cites Extradition as Sore Point With U.S.MOSCOW – Russian officials complained on Monday that the United States routinely disregards extradition requests by the Russian government, the latest in a series of public statements that seem aimed at laying the groundwork for granting asylum to Edward J. Snowden, the former intelligence contractor on the run from the American authorities.
A.C.L.U. Urges Inquiries in Shooting of Man Tied to Boston SuspectWASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union on Monday urged local law enforcement officials in Florida and Massachusetts to open investigations into how an F.B.I. agent killed a man who was being interrogated in his Orlando apartment about the Boston Marathon bombing suspects.
Judge says family of bioweapons scientist can’t sue CIA over unsolved deathA federal judge in Washington, DC has dismissed a lawsuit that alleged the CIA murdered one of its own agents in 1953 and then attempted to pass it off as a suicide. Sixty years after the death of bioweapons expert Dr. Frank Olson, United States District Judge James E.