Tony Romm writes: The Senate is racing toward a last-minute showdown over a controversial counterterrorism surveillance law. While the chamber is preoccupied with the fast-approaching fiscal cliff, the clock is also running out on the so-called FISA Amendments Act — provisions of which are scheduled to sunset at the end of the year. The law…
Tag: FISA
Wyden blocks extension of surveillance law
Pete Yost of Associated Press reports: A Senate Intelligence Committee Democrat on Monday blocked a five-year extension of a surveillance law used by the Obama administration to intercept the communications of terrorist suspects overseas. The move is the latest by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon to address concerns that the government may be reviewing the…
Surveillance Court Issues New Rules of Procedure
Steven Aftergood writes: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which reviews government applications for domestic intelligence surveillance, issued new rules (pdf) on Monday to govern its proceedings. The new rules differ only slightly from the draft rules (pdf) that were issued for public comment in late August (“FISA Court Proposes New Court Rules,” Secrecy News, September…
The “techie” side of “Getting It Right”
Jim Burrows writes: The following posting is intended as part of the background information for a forthcoming Get FISA Right chat on the technological issues in “getting FISA right” or more generally balancing needed foreign intelligence gathering with the rights reserved and protected in the Constitution. We eagerly seek your comments here and your participation…