Kevin Bankston of EFF writes: This afternoon, leaders in the House of Representatives introduced their own USA PATRIOT Act reform bill, responding to the disappointing PATRIOT renewal bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee two weeks ago. The new bill — the USA Patriot Amendments Act of 2009 (HR 3845) — was introduced by House…
Judge refuses to lift 5-year-old Patriot Act gag order
David Kravets reports: A federal judge on Tuesday declined to remove a gag order imposed on the president of a small ISP who wants to reveal the contents of a national security letter he received from the FBI. The NSL demanded the president of the New York company provide the government with e-mails from a…
Criminal charges filed in Deutsche Bahn employee spying case
From DDP: The new management of German national railway Deutsche Bahn has submitted criminal charges to the public prosecutor’s office over a scandal involving internal company spying, daily Frankfurter Rundschau reported on Wednesday. “A counsellor under contract with the new Deutsche Bahn leadership submitted the criminal charges against unnamed suspects and presented evidence,” a spokesperson…
EPIC urges court to protect speech of privacy advocate
From EPIC.org: EPIC filed a “friend of the court” brief with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, urging the court to hold that the First Amendment protects the speech of Betty Ostergren, a privacy advocate. Ostergren runs a Website that republishes Social Security Numbers, collected from public records, to persuade Virginia lawmakers to stop releasing documents…