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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday November 19 2015, @01:43PM   Printer-friendly
from the never-let-a-crisis-go-to-waste dept.

A U.S. senator plans to introduce legislation that would delay the end of the bulk collection of phone metadata by the National Security Agency to Jan. 31, 2017, in the wake of security concerns after the terror attacks last Friday in Paris.

Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, believes that the termination of the program, scheduled for month-end under the USA Freedom Act, "takes us from a constitutional, legal, and proven NSA collection architecture to an untested, hypothetical one that will be less effective."

The transition will happen in less than two weeks, at a time when the threat level for the U.S. is "incredibly high," he said Tuesday.

The obvious answer to doing something that doesn't work is to do more of that something.


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 19 2015, @02:07PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 19 2015, @02:07PM (#265333)

    They have had these powers for years and haven't prevented jack shit. The argument that they can't tell us about all the terror ops that they stop because then the bad guys would know that they are watching is bullshit. EVERYONE knows by now. So show us the proof or fuck off.

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Thursday November 19 2015, @02:45PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 19 2015, @02:45PM (#265343) Journal

    But, but, but - you're so NEGATIVE!! Just because shit hasn't worked for the past fourteen years doesn't mean anything. We just need MOAR SHITE, and it'll start working! Forget about that old gray haired man's definition of insanity, MOAR SHIT!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 19 2015, @03:15PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 19 2015, @03:15PM (#265359)

    They didn't prevent the Boston Marathon, which was done by two brothers with apparently no outside help, or Ft. Hood, which was a single shooter. Neither of these attacks required electronic communications.

    Meanwhile, if you compiled a list of all the mass murders in the USA that took place in the last 12-14 years, with more than five victims, it would be a long list. But yeah, guns don't kill people and you say they do, you'll have ten posters putting you in your place real quick.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Sir Finkus on Thursday November 19 2015, @05:07PM

    by Sir Finkus (192) on Thursday November 19 2015, @05:07PM (#265402) Journal

    They have had these powers for years and haven't prevented jack shit. The argument that they can't tell us about all the terror ops that they stop because then the bad guys would know that they are watching is bullshit. EVERYONE knows by now. So show us the proof or fuck off.

    Have you spoken to anybody outside of the tech sector about this? Most of the people I've talked to think it's great that the government is "protecting us" by reading our emails and texts and that Snowden is a Russian spy.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anal Pumpernickel on Thursday November 19 2015, @05:26PM

    by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Thursday November 19 2015, @05:26PM (#265412)

    The bulk collection of phone metadata was never going to end in the first place. It's just that companies would be forced to store the data instead. If the government forces companies to do something (especially that would be unconstitutional for it to do), then those companies become a de facto part of the government, so it is not really different. The "freedom" act solves nothing, as the problem is that the data is being collected in the first place.

    The NSA's mass surveillance is completely unconstitutional, which is why passing more laws saying it's legal will do nothing; you can't override the highest law of the land with petty laws like these. People who would trade our fundamental liberties and our constitutional form of government for security are naive cowards who don't realize that the corrupting influence of power doesn't disappear merely because someone is part of the government. Tom Cotton is a traitor.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 19 2015, @07:00PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 19 2015, @07:00PM (#265449)

      The claim that these programs are "constitutional" are based on the courts preventing anyone from challenging them in the light of day. Basing a claim of constitutionality on the fact that no one has been able to try to prove it unconstitutional is bullshit. "We're not keeping any secret prisoners here so you can't look."

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 19 2015, @09:25PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 19 2015, @09:25PM (#265507)