Bill Bans NSA Eavesdropping

An anonymous reader writes "The US house of representatives today passed a bill outlawing illegal domestic wiretapping by the government. Now government agencies are only allowed to access your private communications under terms of FISA. 'As the Senate Report noted, FISA "was designed . . . to curb the practice by which the Executive Branch may conduct warrantless electronic surveillance on its own unilateral determination that national security justifies it." The Bill ends plans by the Bush Administration that would give the NSA the freedom to pry into the lives of ordinary Americans. The ACLU noted that, despite many recent hearings about 'modernization' and 'technology neutrality,' the administration has not publicly provided Congress with a single example of how current FISA standards have either prevented the intelligence community from using new technologies, or proven unworkable for the agents tasked with following them.'"

"Outlawing illegal domestic wiretapping."

[TodMinuit]

Only in a Government do you need to outlaw something that is already illegal.

Huh?

[vjmurphy]

"passed a bill outlawing illegal domestic wiretapping by the government"

Good thing they outlawed illegal wiretapping, since outlawing legal wiretapping would have made it illegal, thus making the above sentence redundant. Wait. I think I hurt my brain.

Re:Huh?

[Spudtrooper]

Mod bill -1 Redundant

Re:"Outlawing illegal domestic wiretapping."

[Red Flayer]

It passed review by the Committee of Redundancy Committee, whereupon is was put to a vote before the House of Representatives. The passing vote means that it will now be put to a vote before the House of Representatives.

Re:"Outlawing illegal domestic wiretapping."

[Interfect]

I stopped reading at "outlawing illegal". Maybe they should outlaw illegal filesharing next? Or illegal murder?

Re:"Outlawing illegal domestic wiretapping."

[Bogtha]

Don't worry, Bush will be along shortly to double-un-re-de-ban it (no backsies!) any second now.

Re:Premature Especulation

[CthulhuDreamer]

Signing it's not a problem, just add a signing statement that it doesn't apply to the NSA and everything is golden.

Re:Unconstitutional

[Interfect]

Bush doesn't have the authority to do what congress doesn't have the authority to prohibit him doing. If that makes sense. So it all works out.

Apologies to Jack Sheldon and SchoolHouse Rock

[VorlonFog]

I'm just a bill.
Yes, I'm only a bill.
And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill.
Well, it's a long, long journey
To the capital city.
It's a long, long wait
While I'm sitting in committee,
But I know I'll be a law some day
At least I hope and pray that I will
But today I am still just a bill.

Courtesy of http://www.jacksheldon.com/school.htm [jacksheldon.com]

We should support wiretapping.

[Anonymous Coward]

I support the president's wiretapping legal or illegal. (Be careful what you post, I think he's monitoring us here too.)

Re:Errr

[dr_dank]

How do you outlaw something that's already illegal?

By declaring war on it, dummy.

Attention Moderators:

[Reverend528]

Mod Parent Redundant.

Re:Only in a divided government, yeah

[jfengel]

Very much so. And for the most part, you can at least imagine that [despised] was created by at most a few dozen people, over a few years, with more or less the same goal in mind.

Legislation, on the other hand, is created by people who absolutely despise each other, over the course of centuries. Whenever the balance of power shifts, they add MORE source code to the mix, trying to counteract what the other guys added.

And there's no debugger. The best you can hope for is to throw the legislation out there and hope that it has the effect you want.

It would be nice to throw it out and start all over every so often, but it's impossible to know if the new bugs and switchover costs outweigh dealing with upgrading the existing hunk of crap.

Re:Apologies to Jack Sheldon and SchoolHouse Rock

[morgan_greywolf]

You forgot part:

I'm just a bill
Yes, I'm only a bill
And if they vote for me on Capitol Hill
Well, then I'm off to the White House
Where I'll wait in a line
With a lot of other bills
For the president to sign
And if he signs me, then I'll be a law.
HOW I hope and pray that he will,
But today I am still just a bill.

Boy:

You mean even if the whole Congress says you should be a law, the president can still say no?
BILL:

Yes, that's called a veto. If the president vetoes me, I have to go back to Congress and they vote on me again, and by that time you're so old ...
  Boy:

Re:I smell...

[kupekhaize]

And damn it feels good to be a gangster!