John Ribeiro reports: A new IT law has come into force in India that frees Internet portals from liability for third-party content and activity, but also gives the government powers to monitor communications on the Internet, and block web sites that are found to be offensive. The Information Technology (Amendment) Act 2008 was passed by…
Category: Laws
Privacy, free speech, and the PATRIOT Act: First and Fourth Amendment limits on national security letters
Patrick P. Garlinger has a Note in the October issue of the New York University Law Review. The abstract is: Congress’s passage of the Patriot Act after 9/11 expanded the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) information-gathering authority to issue national security letters (NSL). Without any judicial review, the FBI issues NSLs to telecommunications providers to…
Editorial: Privacy and the Patriot Act
In the aftermath of 9/11, legislators cut legal corners to protect the nation. Congress should amend that now by revising certain expiring provisions of the law. Along with the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and the Bush administration’s illegal eavesdropping on U.S. citizens, the USA Patriot Act came to symbolize the excesses of the post-9/11 war…
DHS information-sharing initiative stalls due to privacy concerns
Jill R. Aitoro reports: A proposed Homeland Security Department information-sharing initiative faces ongoing funding challenges, due to congressional concerns over privacy. For the third year in a row, Congress as part of the Homeland Security spending bill prohibited DHS from using appropriated funds to stand up the National Immigration Information Sharing Operation. To start the…