Telecom Immunity bill dying, thanks to you — KEEP IT UP!

Cory Doctorow 9:55 pm Mon Dec 17, 2007

Hurrah! The Telecom Immunity Bill — which will let the phone companies off the hook for helping the NSA to illegally spy on Americans — is dying in Congress, thanks to your calls and letters.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Danny O'Brien sez, "Harry Reid just announced that given the complexity and contentiousness of immunity (which he says he backs Dodd in opposing) the bill will be taken off the floor, and not return before the holidays.

Your calls, your letters, and Dodds' filibustering did their work. Now we need to keep the pressure up, and keep telecom immunity off the table forever."

Here's the thing: EFF and others are suing the telecoms for participating in the wiretapping program. These lawsuits are the best chance we have of getting the details of the program into the public, so we can finally find out what the NSA have been doing to us all these years. The reason the government wants to grant the telecoms immunity is to keep the dirty laundry in the closet — to keep us from finding out how they've been breaking the law.

If we stop telecom immunity, we'll probably get to call the NSA and the government to account, too. If the telecoms get immunized, the government could get a walk as well.

See also:
Senate set to forgive telcos for spying on Americans with the NSA: TAKE ACTION NOW!
EFF suing AT&T for helping NSA illegally spy on Americans
William Gibson on NSA wiretapping
StopTheSpying: Tell the Dems to keep AT&T on the hook for NSA wiretapping
Time's Joe Klein gets everything wrong in column about NSA domestic spying
Congress: don't cripple the suit against the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program
NSA domestic spying: reaction from a crypto mail-list moderator
NSA's domestic data-mining ops gathered vast troves of info

NSA spies on US: calls, emails intercepted without warrants
Data mining prompted fight over NSA domestic spying program
ACLU map of NSA's domestic phone, 'net surveillance
Liveblogging court hearings: NSA's spying, AT&T's alleged complicity
AT&T built warrantless wiretap rooms for the NSA
CALL CONGRESS NOW: NSA wiretapping to be legalized THIS WEEK!
Schneier op-ed on unchecked presidential power, NSA spying
Government appeals its loss in NSA/ATT domestic spying case

Act NOW to keep NSA cases in public court

Drone filmmaker captures Children's Fairyland from the view of a flying fairy — and it's downright magical

There's still magic in the world, as evidenced by this fairy's-eye view of Children's Fairyland, that charming 70-year-old storybook theme park in Oakland, California. You might remember that when I'm… READ THE REST
This deck of wholesome activities inspires mini-adventures

We've been writing about Lea Redmond since 2009 here on Boing Boing. She's just one of those kind of people who consistently makes neat things — a real Happy Mutant!… READ THE REST
This house for sale in Pittsburgh is filled with whimsical themed rooms

Listed at $159,900 this 1,075 square-foot home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is bland on the outside but features rooms with outer space, submarine, tropical island, and moonbase motifs. The owners put… READ THE REST
Short Post, just one paragraph

Dessert cheesecake wafer bear claw fruitcake. Fruitcake chupa chups donut candy canes marzipan. Apple pie sweet roll tart chocolate cake macaroon marshmallow carrot cake gummi bears sweet. Pastry sugar plum… READ THE REST
Save 50% on a 1-year subscription to Dashlane's premium password manager

We all know vital information about ourselves and our private digital accounts can be compromised by cybercriminals. However, many would be frightened to know just how compromised they and their… READ THE REST
The Bite Helper removes the itch of a mosquito bite in seconds

While mosquitoes have certainly earned their title as the deadliest animal on earth, their impact on most of our lives is usually a lot less consequential. But even though they… READ THE REST