Category «Civil Liberties»

FEC Issues Draft Final Rules on Use of Internet In Connection with Federal Elections

Following up on several related postings on bloggers and campaign speech, today the FEC issued a 96 page document (PDF) promulgating its final rules that impact the publication of campaign related information. Declan McCullagh has more details and commentary. March 22, 2006 – The Commission Has Published Interim Final Rules on Definitions of Federal Election …

Subjects: Blogs, Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Commerce, Free Speech, Government Documents

Ass’t AG Responds to Republican and Democratic Questions On Domestic Surveillance

In response to requests by the House Judiciary Committee members for more extensive documentation on the administration’s domestic surveillance program, this afternoon DOJ released two memos (both in PDF) that supported previous statements on the issue, providing nothing of substance in the way of more details, as requested. Reponse to GOP questions Response to Democratic …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Privacy

National Security Surveillance Act of 2006

S. 2453 – A bill to establish procedures for the review of electronic surveillance programs; to the Committee on the Judiciary. [Congressional Record: March 16, 2006 (Senate)][Page S2316-S2376] “Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I seek recognition today to introduce a bill to regulate electronic surveillance programs designed to gather intelligence for national security purposes.” Related postings …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Legislation, Privacy

Document Request on Cases Compromised by Domestic Surveillance Program

Press release: Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) Friday sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [text included in the press release] seeking information on court cases that may have been compromised by the Bush Administration’s illegal domestic spying program..Leahy…and Kennedy…ask Gonzales to provide the committee with information on all legal challenges …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006 Introduced Today

The introduction of the Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006 today has raised concerns for reporters, bloggers and advocates for civil liberties. The bill “authorizes the President to conduct an electronic surveillance program, without court order, for up to 45 days…” ACLU Letter to the Senate Expressing Strong Opposition to the Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Government, Government Documents, Internet, Privacy

NSA Oversight Act Introduced

Press release: “On Thursday, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA)…[introduced] legislation to address the NSA’s warrantless surveillance of Americans on American soil…The bill, the NSA OVERSIGHT ACT, would: Reiterate Current FISA and Wiretap Laws – states that FISA and the federal criminal wiretap statutes shall continue to be the exclusive means by which domestic electronic surveillance may …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Legislation, Privacy

Website Tracks Censorship in Search Results

“Welcome to CenSEARCHip! This is a tool developed by Mark Meiss and Filippo Menczer at the Indiana University School of Informatics in March of 2006 to allow you to explore the differences in the results returned by different countries’ versions of the major search engines. We currently work with the Web search and image search …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Freedom of Information, Internet, Search Engines

Advocacy Groups Support Protections for Blogger’s Speech on the Net

Op-Ed in Roll Call by CDT Officials Supports Protecting Bloggers without Opening Soft Money Loopholes in the Campaign Finance Laws: “H.R. 4900 protects bloggers and small speakers far better than does H.R 1606, and by design, it does not create other loopholes in the campaign finance laws. Those who truly want to protect bloggers and …

Subjects: Blogs, Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Government, Free Speech, Government Documents, Legislation

Rights Group Files Motion Challenging Legality of Domestic Surveillance Program

Press release: “In New York on March 9, 2006, attorneys with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a significant motion for summary judgment in the challenge to the legality of the NSA Domestic Spying Program (CCR v. Bush), asserting that the Bush Administration has already admitted enough incriminating facts to prove the NSA Program …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, E-Mail, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research