Obama Backs Extending Patriot Act Spy Provisions
 

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/200...py-provisions/

The Obama administration has told Congress it supports renewing three provisions of the Patriot Act due to expire at year?s end, measures making it easier for the government to spy within the United States.

These are the three provisions due to expire:

*A secret court, known as the FISA court, may grant ?roving wiretaps? without the government identifying the target. Generally, the authorities must assert that the target is an agent of a foreign power and/or a suspected terrorist. The government said Tuesday that 22 such warrants ? which allow the monitoring of any communication device ? have been granted annually.

*The FISA court may grant warrants for ?business records,? from banking to library to medical records. Generally, the government must assert that the records are relevant to foreign intelligence gathering and/or a terrorism investigation. The government said Tuesday that 220 of these warrants had been granted between 2004 and 2007. It said 2004 was the first year those powers were used.

*A so-called ?lone wolf? provision, enacted in 2004, allows FISA court warrants for the electronic monitoring of an individual even without showing that the person is an agent of a foreign power or a suspected terrorist. The government said Tuesday it has never invoked that provision, but said it wants to keep the authority to do so.

The American Civil Liberties opposes renewing all three provisions, especially the lone wolf measure.

Michelle Richardson, the ACLU?s legislative counsel, said in a telephone interview, ?The justification for FISA and these lower standards and letting it operate in secret was all about terrorist groups and foreign governments, that they posed a unique threat other than the normal criminal element. This lone wolf provision undercuts that justification.?



FBI Use of Patriot Act Authority Increased Dramatically in 2008
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/200...cally-in-2008/

FBI Misuses, Underreports Patriot Act Power: Audit
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/200...i_misuses_und/

FBI Targets Internet Archive With Secret ?National Security Letter?, Loses
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/200...ternet-archiv/

FBI Tried to Cover Patriot Act Abuses With Flawed, Retroactive Subpoenas, Audit Finds
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/200...i-tried-to-co/

Judge Orders FBI to Turn Over Thousands of Patriot Act Abuse Documents
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/200...dge_orders_fb/

Is anyone really shocked?

not really, but just wanted to find out how long it takes before someone starts calling wired.com racist...

yaaay change.. wait.. what?

LOL :1orglaugh

This sucks.

How am I not surprised?

wont prevent Fox from hammering that he is weak on defending the safety of the US ...

He also extended the searchy of hard drives at borders .. a few weeks ago ...

Maybe the Oval Office has a contageous bug ...

Well how else is black hitler supposed to transform us into a fascist/socialist state in a mere 4 years if he can't spy on the citizens so that the secret agents in silent black helicopters can sneak in and steal all of their guns and ammo?

:rollseyes:

Government grasping for unnecessary authority...man this is some great change going on. :disgust

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh wow

<sarcasm>More change we can believe in!</sarcasm>

Interesting.