MuckRock launches its first law suit. The target none other than CIA.
No, they aren't seeking to uncover who murdered JFK or compensations for subjects of CIA special rendition, but the action is important for a transparent civil society: specifically, they seek information about the processes used by CIA to handle FOIA requests.
For those not knowing who/what Muckrock is, they are the guys that will assists anyone in filing governmental FOIA requests then publish the obtained information for the public. Notably:
- they partnered with EFF in getting info on how the various governance and law enforcement bodies plan to use drones on US territory
- they caused the Boston police to suspend the use of hightech licence plate scanners
- and, in partnershsip with beacon reader, they plan to uncover the extent of law enforcement access to mobile communication data, including the level in which stingray devices are employed
To my mind, chipping in $5 or using their services to lodge your own FOIA requests may have more beneficial effect on the USA society than venting our spleen on SN (which, while good for us, I don't have any illusions it would make too much of a difference on society)
Related Stories
mrbluze writes:
"Columbia Tribune / AP reports of Police agencies' reluctance to divulge details about the Stingray cell-phone interception device, whose use has increased since a Supreme Court decision to prevent the use of GPS tracking devices without a warrant. The Stingray is reported to be a suitcase-sized device that pretends to be a mobile phone tower, tricking a cell phone to connect to it instead of the cellphone company's tower, but details on how this works are not revealed.
In one of the rare court cases involving the device, the FBI acknowledged in 2011 that so-called cell site simulator technology affects innocent users in the area where it's operated, not just a suspect police are seeking.
A December 2013 investigation by USA Today found roughly 1 in 4 law enforcement agencies it surveyed had performed tower dumps, and slightly fewer owned a Stingray.
However, a report by GlobalResearch.ca gives much greater detail, including photographs of the device:
When a suspect makes a phone call, the StingRay tricks the cell into sending its signal back to the police, thus preventing the signal from traveling back to the suspect's wireless carrier. But not only does StingRay track the targeted cell phone, it also extracts data off potentially thousands of other cell phone users in the area.
Although manufactured by a Germany and Britain-based firm, the StingRay devices are sold in the US by the Harris Corporation, an international telecommunications equipment company. It gets between $60,000 and $175,000 for each Stingray it sells to US law enforcement agencies."
(Score: 2) by BsAtHome on Thursday June 12 2014, @04:35PM
"...more beneficial effect on [the USA] society than venting our spleen on SN."
I guess that venting your spleen has a beneficial effect regardless. It reduces stress and sets free "happy"-hormones. A net plus for the writer of the vented spleen as well as a pleasure to others while reading vented spleen (if formulated correctly). Also, the beneficial effects are not restricted to one country and, going out on a limb, suggest that it is beneficial for all, with one the exception noted that you are not directly or indirectly prosecuted for venting.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 13 2014, @05:14AM
Not to mention it's better accepted at the office than masturbation.
(Score: -1) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 12 2014, @04:40PM
If you have a problem... if no one else can help... and if you can find them... maybe you can hire... The A-Team.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by frojack on Thursday June 12 2014, @05:21PM
I wish them luck, but not breaking out the champagne just yet.
Mostly this type of court case sputters a bit and finally dies quietly when some judge dismisses the entire case for some technicality or lack of standing.
Trying to best the CIA in open court is pretty much un-workable, they have too many exemptions in the law. All they need do is assert that the process of handling FIOA requests will reveal secret vetting processes and internal information flow.
Poof, there goes your case.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Thursday June 12 2014, @08:00PM
Yes, except we have travelled far beyond the bounds of windmills, and you know that we have. Everyone who is not 12, and who is not actively deluding themselves knows that we find ourselves now in a twilight land. We know that what judges say in a system wherein winner-takes-all, means little. We know that those who become governors and commissioners and so on, do not exemplify law-and-order. They have rather defined themselves as chief among criminals. There was a time when Congress was a check on Executive and Judiciary power. There was a time when the Supreme Court was a check on the Congress and Whitehouse. That time is remarkably, dramatically, gone.
We American citizens find ourselves now in an unprecedented time. Every avenue of peaceful political evolution has been coopted. There is no way now to effect political change without shooting or being shot. My life, and your life, and the lives of every other American citizen is forfeit. It sucks. I wanted to see my children grow to adulthood.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Thursday June 12 2014, @11:04PM
"ubi bene ibi patria" - immigrate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 13 2014, @01:34AM
I chose to not have children for a variety of reasons, and now this adds yet another reason.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 13 2014, @02:50PM
Sure there is, the unions and peace activists figured this out ages ago. Work stoppage. Everyone stop going to work until things change. Economy collapses, mass layoffs, lots of jail time for "the leaders", but you cannot place 150 million people in jail. As history has shown, things will change when this happens. You need enough people to do this, and enough people that care to help their neighbors when food runs out, and those are the problems Americans face: each other, because there will not be enough people to do this, and Americans don't care about their neighbors when they start going hungry. The sad thing is, you only need an industry or two to engage in this, not the entire country, but Americans aren't even able to do that.