Senate bill rewrite lets feds read your e-mail without warrants

[DaniDubois]

Declan McCullagh
C/Net

Proposed law scheduled for a vote next week originally increased Americans' e-mail privacy. Then law enforcement complained. Now it increases government access to e-mail and other digital files. Sen. Patrick Leahy previously said his bill boosts Americans' e-mail privacy protections by "requiring that the government obtain a search warrant." That's no longer the case.



A Senate proposal touted as protecting Americans' e-mail privacy has been quietly rewritten, giving government agencies more surveillance power than they possess under current law.

CNET has learned that Patrick Leahy, the influential Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, has dramatically reshaped his legislation in response to law enforcement concerns. A vote on his bill, which now authorizes warrantless access to Americans' e-mail, is scheduled for next week.
Revised bill highlights

Leahy's rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies -- including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission -- to access Americans' e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57552225-38/senate-bill-rewrite-lets-feds-read-your-e-mail-without-warrants/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

[ElboRuum]

1. Fine.

Every e-mail I send is going to contain a link to a Rickroll from this point forward.

[WinkyDink]

2. Here I thought I voted for Democrats.

[msongs]

3. Bush will veto it, right? nt

[davidn3600]

4. So when law enforcement complains, the bill gets rewritten

But when voters complain...we have to "compromise?"

Big Brother always wins, doesn't he?

[TheKentuckian]

5. Leahy used to be worthy of respect, now he has devolved into an untrustworthy turd.

[ChazII]

6. Time to DU

our senators.

[Canuckistanian]

7. Looks like the 4th Amendment has been officially repealed

When politicians can even contemplate writing a bill like this.

The camels nose under the tent.

[Bake]

8. This is patently unconstitutional!

A SCOTUS case if there ever was one. Maybe we should wait for the Prez to get another appointment to the Court, but a challenge is definitely in order.

Bake

[Dawson Leery]

9. Law "enforcement" has no respect for the principles of the constitution.

[Fumesucker]

10. Nothing at all to worry about, Obama will veto hammer anything so blatantly wrong

[ChazII]

11. I worry by nature

so time to DU the WH with our concerns. But thanks for the reminder that with Pres. Obama in the WH we will be okay,