National Security Letters ruled unconstitutional — FBI spying tools violate First Amendment, judicial powers

That provision also violated the Constitution because it blocks meaningful judicial review.

Illston ordered the FBI to cease issuing the letters, but put her order on hold for 90 days so the U.S. Department of Justice can appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Pretty much standard operating proceedure when national security is the issue.

The FBI made 16,511 national security letter requests for information regarding 7,201 people in 2011, the latest data available. The FBI uses the letters to collect unlimited kinds of sensitive, private information like financial and phone records.

With the NSL law struck down, however, the full picture of how the FBI has wielded its unprecedented surveillance power in recent years may soon be revealed – provided, that is, if Judge Illston’s ruling is upheld.

That’s still a big “if”. Citing “significant constitutional and national security issues,” the judge has stayed her own ruling for 90 days or until the government appeals, whichever comes sooner.

Google had disclosed recently, the number of NSLs the federal government had issued.

FoxNews reported … Saturday:

A federal judge has struck down a set of laws allowing the FBI to issue so-called national security letters to banks, phone companies and other businesses demanding customer information.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said the laws violate the First Amendment and the separation of powers principles and ordered the government to stop issuing the secretive letters or enforcing their gag orders, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The FBI almost always bars recipients of the letters from disclosing to anyone — including customers — that they have even received the demands, Illston said in the ruling released Friday.

The government has failed to show that the letters and the blanket non-disclosure policy “serve the compelling need of national security,” and the gag order creates “too large a danger that speech is being unnecessarily restricted,” the San Francisco-based Illston wrote.

A Department of Justice spokesman told the Journal the department was “reviewing the order.”

And Now For A Message From the EFF

Because they can, they will. Remember Bush and the noise generated over his spy’s peeking at your library card. Ah the good old days, long since passed.

Americans may not realize it, but many are in a face recognition database now …

The EFF writes:

Staff Attorney Jennifer Lynch testified that although “many Americans may not realize it, they are already in a face recognition database.” The Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law held a hearing about facial recognition in regards to privacy and civil liberties. Between Facebook scanning 300 million photos a day and the FBI’s nationwide face search, real-time face recognition is coming and we desperately need privacy protections in place.

This creates threats to free association and free expression not evident in other biometrics,’ testified EFF Staff Attorney Jennifer Lynch. There are 32 states that use some form of facial recognition for DMV photos. Every day, Facebook happily slurps up and automatically scans with facial recognition software about 300 million photos that users upload to the social networking giant. [Full]

We’re the United States, not some Euro country that’s lived under dictators for much their history.  We shouldn’t have to change how we live; we do have to change who runs things—one way or another.

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Does anyone see more than a little irony in this today?

Vote Different

Yes I know it’s and oldie, but still relevant.

‘Jailbreaking’ Exemption to DMCA Expires Soon — EFF Pushes to Ensure Jailbreaking Remains Legal

The exception to the DMCA that allows jailbreaking and rooting is about to expire.

The act of jailbreaking or rooting smartphones may once again become illegal, as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) exemption set in place back in July 2010 by the Copyright Office is set to expire soon.

According to the exemption, jailbreaking an iOS device or rooting an Android device is perfectly legal as long as it doesn’t circumvent copyright. Apple, a public advocate which strives to keep a closed, secure platform, wasn’t keen on the ruling, and even indicated that jailbreaking would still void any official Apple warranty. Like Apple, some device manufacturers still claim that jailbreaking violates Section 1201 of the DMCA, which carries stiff penalties.

So what does that mean for consumers if the exemption runs out? “Modifying a device to run independent software – known as jailbreaking – is important to programmers, enthusiasts, and users,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation states.

Essentially users wouldn’t be able to get rid of the bloatware-ridden version of Android and replace it with a clean, untainted version. It would mean that iPhone and iPod Touch users wouldn’t be able to download and install apps released outside Apple’s prison walls. Downloading modified Android ROMs would again be considered as a crime. Many developers may even lose their jobs.

“The recent download and usage statistics which relate to the new Absinthe jailbreak tool clearly show that jailbreaking is not only still popular, but is a thriving and expanding community,” The Redmond Pie reports. “Not only do we need to think about the end users who pay a large premium for the device and should ultimately have the freedom to do whatever they want with it, within the realms of the law, but a growing number of developers actually make their living from the software and tweaks which they sell on Cydia.”

Absinthe jailbreak for iPhone 4S, iPad 2 saw 1M first day downloads

There’s also another issue: the current exemption doesn’t cover the iPad and gaming consoles. That said, anyone jailbreaking a tablet or the Xbox 360 now are theoretically breaking the law. To ensure that the exemption is renewed by the Copyright Office, and to add tablets and gaming consoles to the list of devices, the EFF is now calling on consumers to sign a petition.

You can also visit jailbreakingisnotacrime.org to sign a petition supported by EFF and Andrew “Bunnie” Huang, author of Hacking the Xbox.