Take That, AT&T! (Well, Not Really)

In its first closed-door session since 1983, the House of Representatives approved revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) bill, which would hold telecoms accountable for their unlawful cooperation with federal intelligence agencies. As it stands, the bill grants retroactive immunity to companies that heed the government’s warrantless subpoenas for customers’ phone calls and e-mails. The revised bill would allow customers to sue carriers for these transgressions.

Unfortunately, these revisions aren’t likely to get signed into law. The bill will now pass to the Senate, but both the Senate and President Bush have vowed to veto it, on the grounds that it impeded activity necessary to protecting national security.

What’s unclear is what will become of the lawsuits already in progress. Two years ago, for instance, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), among other parties, filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T for cooperating under the government’s warrantless subpoena.

“These are still very much live issues,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). “There’s an opportunity to get a better bill out of Congress. The House has also made clear that it’s not prepared to accept retroactive immunity for the telephone companies. It’s not quite a stalemate, but it is a significant legislative impasse.”

As for the impasse, Rotenberg hopes the Senate follows the lead of Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who recently proposed a compromise that would grant the telecoms some immunity, provided they cooperate, but with “improved accountability.” In the meantime, Congress breaks for two weeks. “There’s been quite a split,” Rotenberg said. “Perhaps Senate will take another look at [Rockefeller's proposal].”