DoJ Granted Immunity to Companies Participating in NSA Surveillance Programs
April 29th, 2013ISP = Internet Surveillance Provider.
Via: Cnet:
Justice Department agreed to issue “2511 letters” immunizing AT&T and other companies participating in a cybersecurity program from criminal prosecution under the Wiretap Act, according to new documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Senior Obama administration officials have secretly authorized the interception of communications carried on portions of networks operated by AT&T and other Internet service providers, a practice that might otherwise be illegal under federal wiretapping laws.
The secret legal authorization from the Justice Department originally applied to a cybersecurity pilot project in which the military monitored defense contractors’ Internet links. Since then, however, the program has been expanded by President Obama to cover all critical infrastructure sectors including energy, healthcare, and finance starting June 12.
“The Justice Department is helping private companies evade federal wiretap laws,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which obtained over 1,000 pages of internal government documents and provided them to CNET this week. “Alarm bells should be going off.”
Those documents show the National Security Agency and the Defense Department were deeply involved in pressing for the secret legal authorization, with NSA director Keith Alexander participating in some of the discussions personally. Despite initial reservations, including from industry participants, Justice Department attorneys eventually signed off on the project.
The Justice Department agreed to grant legal immunity to the participating network providers in the form of what participants in the confidential discussions refer to as “2511 letters,” a reference to the Wiretap Act codified at 18 USC 2511 in the federal statute books.
The Wiretap Act limits the ability of Internet providers to eavesdrop on network traffic except when monitoring is a “necessary incident” to providing the service or it takes place with a user’s “lawful consent.” An industry representative told CNET the 2511 letters provided legal immunity to the providers by agreeing not to prosecute for criminal violations of the Wiretap Act. It’s not clear how many 2511 letters were issued by the Justice Department.
In Other News: Government Seeks to Fine Companies for Not Complying With Wiretap Orders
Research Credit: conceptualdecay
Eric Holder (*spit) who is the Clown behind the current lack of indictments for the Financial Industry crooks looting the global economy, is going to be in Auckland soon, to deliver an address on cyber crime at some Uni campus. Is this in ANY way linked to the Dot Com extradition scandal? Would this corrupt little thug be here for any other reason? Is John Key so messed up in the dirty little bastards business that he is colluding in letting Holder come here. Would anyone care to protest the visit of this toad to our country? Does GCSB read Cryptogon? I’m in Nelson, come and get me.