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posted by martyb on Friday January 12 2018, @01:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the pay-no-attention-to-the-TLA-behind-the-curtain dept.

The House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that would extend a controversial government spying power known as "Section 702" for another six years—without new privacy safeguards that had been sought by civil liberties groups.

Debate over the legislation now shifts over to the Senate, where it faces a filibuster threat from both Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

"If this Section 702 bill comes to the Senate, I will filibuster it," Wyden wrote in a tweet shortly after the House bill passed.

Wyden opposes the legislation because he believes that it offers too few protections for Americans' privacy rights. The powers granted by Section 702 are only supposed to be used against foreigners on foreign soil. But an American's communications can get swept up in the NSA's surveillance dragnet if they communicate with people overseas. Privacy advocates have championed an amendment to impose new privacy safeguards on the use of Section 702. But it was voted down by the House on Thursday.

[...] There isn't much time for the Senate to act. Section 702 expires on January 19, a little more than a week away.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/01/as-house-passes-surveillance-bill-wyden-and-paul-vow-filibuster/


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @02:04PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @02:04PM (#621369)

    I can see it. The security cameras I installed in your raw undies see all! Let's take a lo- wow! Something just zipped & zoomed right between your bootyasscheekcrack and used your snappyhole as an elevator to reach the deepest reaches of your snap. I wonder what sort of bouncehouse it will become...

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday January 12 2018, @02:56PM (17 children)

    by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Friday January 12 2018, @02:56PM (#621389) Journal

    I know that the House and Senate were structured for population and equality of voice between the States, but traditionally I've always thought of the House as the body having the closer interests of the people and the Senate that of the Union.... It seems backwards to me that the House would pass and the Senate filibuster.

    Aside from that curiosity, anyone remember last time 702 was reauthorized and there was so much noise about it and it felt like it barely passed.... What changed in such a way that up until now it looked like smooth sailing for it? Just Republicans in charge?

    Then again, I'm biased. 9/11 was 16 years ago. When will it be time to end the perpetual sense of emergency? I guess there is no such thing as permanent as a temporary crisis.

    --
    This sig for rent.
    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by donkeyhotay on Friday January 12 2018, @03:47PM

      by donkeyhotay (2540) on Friday January 12 2018, @03:47PM (#621406)

      I should preface this by saying that I'm pretty cynical, but since 9/11, various law enforcement agencies have received lots of money, interesting training, fun "toys" to play with and an overall sense of secularly-divine purpose that they never had before. They don't want to lose any of that. So it seems like they enjoy hyping up the threat so that this river of government and public largesse will continue to flow.

    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by fustakrakich on Friday January 12 2018, @03:51PM

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Friday January 12 2018, @03:51PM (#621407) Journal

      It's all part of the Crisis Industrial Complex. It may sound all *conspiratorial* an' all, but really it's perfectly natural. Everything is an opportunity.

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @03:55PM (9 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @03:55PM (#621408)

      I have no faith in the Democrats here. It got to the Senate because 55 house Democrats voted along with the GOP to extend this blatantly unconstitutional provision.

      Perhaps they'll surprise me, but realistically, they let the GOP get their budget extension without getting anything for it, so I'm not sure why they would have more spine about this.

      • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @04:53PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @04:53PM (#621442)

        Yes I also blame the Democrats for failing to prevent Republicans doing evil shit. Gonna vote R next time.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @08:49PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @08:49PM (#621557)

          Ah, I see. You're going to keep voting R and D and just hope that shit magically fixes itself.

          Maybe the original alt-right was right. Democracy can't work. Fortunately, by continuing to vote D and R, you're voting in a new aristocracy.

          I hope you like what your stupidity buys you.

          • (Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Friday January 12 2018, @10:33PM

            by cmdrklarg (5048) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 12 2018, @10:33PM (#621584)

            I believe that he was being sarcastic. Poe's Law and all.

            --
            The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Sulla on Friday January 12 2018, @05:11PM (5 children)

        by Sulla (5173) on Friday January 12 2018, @05:11PM (#621450) Journal

        The establishment will always make sure that legislation that helps the establishment will go through. Republicans and Democrats are the same when it comes to defending the status quo in DC, where they differ is what they claim to support to divide the masses.

        --
        Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Friday January 12 2018, @06:29PM (4 children)

          by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday January 12 2018, @06:29PM (#621477) Journal

          Republicans and Democrats are the same...

          80% of the Republicans voted for this bill. 34% of Democrats voted for this bill. [house.gov]

          80 != 34

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @07:36PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @07:36PM (#621503)

            where they differ is what they claim to support to divide the masses.

            Yes, this is an issue where Democrats claim to support privacy, so most of them get to vote against a spy bill and look good for their voters without actually changing anything. But enough voted for it to cover for the Republican "defectors" -- do you think this is an accident?

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @08:27PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @08:27PM (#621540)

              Yeah, it sure seems the population average for evil / good people is flipped in politics. Instead of 90% decent people they are 10% decent and 90% corrupt game players.

          • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @09:20PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @09:20PM (#621566)

            Meh. If the same bill came up under Obama the ratio would be flipped. Right now (and recently) there's big partisan shows/bias/however you want to look at it.

            Want proof? Look at the voting records of various similar bills that did come up then...

          • (Score: 4, Informative) by crafoo on Saturday January 13 2018, @05:50AM

            by crafoo (6639) on Saturday January 13 2018, @05:50AM (#621705)

            Don't be so easily fooled. Democrats didn't have to vote for this bill, _this time_, for it to pass. They certainly have in the past though. Keep in mind that Obama granted the telecoms retroactive immunity for the federal crimes they committed. They all jumped the gun on the dragnet surveillance of the public before it was technically legal. Almost right after getting elected. After promising he wouldn't. Hillary was a no-vote on the topic in her last senate vote (i.e. a coward). Deep State gonna deep state. It's what they do.

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by Sulla on Friday January 12 2018, @04:25PM (1 child)

      by Sulla (5173) on Friday January 12 2018, @04:25PM (#621427) Journal

      With how many people there are in the congress it takes a block of good people voting to block a legislation instead of just one. I wish wyden was consistent in his standing up for rights, but his recent support of the legislation that gives jailtime and massive fines for boycotting israel owned companies shows where his loyalty lies.

      --
      Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by crafoo on Saturday January 13 2018, @05:53AM

        by crafoo (6639) on Saturday January 13 2018, @05:53AM (#621706)

        You should keep in mind that Wyden holds dual-citizenship. You know, quite a lot of them do. And it's not like it's a random list of other nations either.
        He has fairly consistently stood up for citizens rights, especially privacy. Overall he's probably more good than bad.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Friday January 12 2018, @05:23PM

      by tangomargarine (667) on Friday January 12 2018, @05:23PM (#621454)

      traditionally I've always thought of the House as the body having the closer interests of the people and the Senate that of the Union

      That's a good point that I didn't even think of.

      That for this to even happen in the Senate now requires a filibuster is disappointing.

      Then again, I'm biased. 9/11 was 16 years ago. When will it be time to end the perpetual sense of emergency? I guess there is no such thing as permanent as a temporary crisis.

      Anybody remember those guys back in Rome who gave up their dictatorships willingly? What a time.

      --
      "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anal Pumpernickel on Saturday January 13 2018, @06:07AM

      by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Saturday January 13 2018, @06:07AM (#621710)

      We shouldn't sacrifice our liberties even in an emergency. This kind of thing is simply never justifiable. I don't care whether the 9/11 attacks happened 16 years ago or 1 day ago. One's commitment to liberty is especially tested in hard times. If you choose to surrender liberty in difficult times, you were never a staunch supporter of it to begin with. It's amazing how hollow that 'the land of the free and the home of the brave' mantra really is. To paraphrase some retarded media pundits, 'But hey, we're better than North Korea, so be happy!'

    • (Score: 2) by davester666 on Monday January 15 2018, @03:46AM

      by davester666 (155) on Monday January 15 2018, @03:46AM (#622413)

      wasn't the big thing the last time that there was going to be a significant change to scope of it, but then right before it was passed, an "and" was changed to an "or" (or vice versa) and it went from reducing the scope to greatly expanding the scope of the program?

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @05:44PM (9 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @05:44PM (#621460)

    The biggest scandal in modern American political history, going back at least 70 years, involves this law. The original warrant was denied, which only happens about 1 out of 10,000 times for this kind of warrant. Then a crazy fictional story was illegally paid for (off the books via a lawyer) out of campaign funds, written, passed to foreigners, and then back to the FBI, to be used as evidence for a warrant.

    If the democrats support this, then that tells us something about how they really feel about Trump and evil mischief. They trust Trump to be less evil than Obama/Hillary about spying on opponents, and/or they find it more important to have the law available for their own misuse once they regain power.

    • (Score: 2, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Friday January 12 2018, @07:11PM (6 children)

      by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Friday January 12 2018, @07:11PM (#621493) Homepage Journal

      This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others? With that being said, I have personally directed the fix to the unmasking process since taking office. Section 702 is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. I am sitting in my office with pen in hand. We need it! Get smart!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @08:30PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @08:30PM (#621542)

        It is amusing that people are more outraged about spying on Trump's campaign than on their own personal lives. #WTF

        • (Score: 2, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday January 14 2018, @01:57AM

          by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Sunday January 14 2018, @01:57AM (#622047) Homepage Journal

          They spied on my son! And they set him up. Let me tell you, I have a son, Don Jr. My son is a wonderful young man (age 39). He's a good boy. He's a good kid. But the Dems set him up. Don Jr., as you know, took a meeting with a Russian lawyer -- not a government lawyer but a Russian lawyer. With Natalia V. from Russia, the one with the long name. Now the lawyer that went to the meeting, I see that she was in the halls of Congress also. Somebody said that her visa or her passport to come into the country was approved by Attorney General Lynch. Now, maybe that's wrong, but I was a little surprised to hear that she was here because of Lynch.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by turgid on Friday January 12 2018, @10:42PM (3 children)

        by turgid (4318) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 12 2018, @10:42PM (#621588) Journal

        Since you're a great and valuable personal friend, I just want to thank you for your latest contribution to the advancement of the great shared culture that our two great nations nurture. You have single-handedly created a revolution in the use of colourful language in a formal context on the BBC. Both Emily Maitliss and Kirsty Wark on my favourite news programme, BBC Newsnight, have not only got away with swearing, but have courageously, earnestly and patriotically relished opportunity.
        God bless you, and God bless America!

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @10:53PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @10:53PM (#621593)

      > This is the law abused to wiretap Trump tower.

      You should quote your sources correctly. It's not "wiretap", it's "tapp".

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by crafoo on Saturday January 13 2018, @05:56AM

      by crafoo (6639) on Saturday January 13 2018, @05:56AM (#621707)

      It's not about republicans or democrats "waiting to regain power". It's the same people. They have power right now. You just didn't elect them. They aren't elected. They buy influence. They control the monetary system.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @05:47PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @05:47PM (#621462)

    Rand Paul is not perfect, nor would i likely agree with him on every issue, but he is one of the very few people in congress that have the nation's interest at heart. The fact that the people of this country don't know what it is to be an American enough to properly support the Pauls is a sad harbinger of our doom. I hope they can wake people up to individual liberty, but people seem to love being slaves.

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by Sulla on Friday January 12 2018, @08:19PM (2 children)

      by Sulla (5173) on Friday January 12 2018, @08:19PM (#621535) Journal

      I see you have been modded disagree, so I will provide some sources.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibuster_in_the_United_States_Senate [wikipedia.org]
      In the past decade both the democrats and republicans have tried their hardest to end the practice of filibusters. Reps tried to do it under Bush and after Rand tanked a provision of the 2012 NDAA the Dems did it under Obama. Both parties want to limit the ability of the people to elect on man who can hold up their goal of supreme power.

      Regardless of his faults, Rand has stood up on multiple occasions and filibustered bills that shat all over our rights and freedoms. Wyden has joined in every time, but did not start them himself.

      --
      Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @11:28PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12 2018, @11:28PM (#621606)

        The fake filibuster (nobody is actually talking until they piss their pants) is allowed because the uniparty wants an excuse to avoid legislation.

        Both republicans and democrats are free to say things to please the voters, safely knowing that bribe payers ("campaign donors") won't get pissed.

        So the republicans can go on about something like repealing Obamacare or building a wall, but they will always be a vote short. That vote used to be Obama's veto. Now it is McCain or Murkowsky or Flake. Likewise, the democrats can go on about something like jailing bankers or something really foolish like 100% paid college, but they will always be a vote short.

        Politicians seem to trade off the role of being the person to cast the vote that pisses people off. It typically goes to somebody who is certain to not be reelected.

        The filibuster helps politicians to hide their malice. With it, they don't have to vote on something that would force them to choose between pissing off voters and pissing off donors.

        • (Score: 2, TouchĂ©) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 13 2018, @06:25AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 13 2018, @06:25AM (#621716)

          or something really foolish like 100% paid college

          That's foolish, even though we're the richest country on Earth, other countries have done it, and we already do public K-12. But man, for some reason, free college would be absolutely impossible! Whenever it's something that will help out the average, we don't have any money to do it, but we always have money to bomb brown people in the middle east. Look at the monkey! Look at the silly monkey!

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 13 2018, @04:00AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 13 2018, @04:00AM (#621687)

    It seems there was some sort of direction provided by President Trump on the 9th of this year, which was Tuesday. This is it:

    https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICPG/ICPG-107.1.pdf [dni.gov]

    So now there will be regular public reports about numbers of USA people whose identities were revealed during intelligence investigations. Trump is actually going to be transparent about this, oddly fulfilling a promise that was made and ignored by his predecessor.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anal Pumpernickel on Saturday January 13 2018, @06:30AM

      by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Saturday January 13 2018, @06:30AM (#621718)

      He's going to be slightly transparent about the constitutional violations. Yes, slightly transparent, because revealing that number means very little. That's amazing. What a great leap forward. Asking for them to not violate the Constitution in the first place would be extremist, though.

    • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday January 14 2018, @02:17AM

      by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Sunday January 14 2018, @02:17AM (#622052) Homepage Journal

      I personally directed the fix to the unmasking process. They unmasked people from my campaign staff. Never again!

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