Telco Immunity for Warrentless Wiretaps Still Uncertain
by T. Colin Dodd
House Leaders Oppose Immunity, Reid Prepares For Extended Negotiations | Threat Level from Wired.com
House leaders sent a letter to fellow lawmakers Friday saying they strenuously oppose handing amnesty to telecom companies that helped the government’s secret, warrantless wiretapping program, even as the Senate is set to approve such a provision early next week.
Perhaps in response to that letter, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) filed a bill Friday that would give the two houses another 15 days to iron out a compromise without passing the expiration date on the extensive wiretapping powers handed to the Administration this summer.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:21 am
The way I see it, if the government asks you to do something, and then later it turns out to be illegal, then you are as guilty as they are, maybe even considered to be an accomplice, depending on how hard you want to think of it.
As Americans, and American companies, we have a responsibility to think these things out and ask ourselves, is this really the right thing to be doing? Just because the government says it’s OK, does not mean you can violate one of the most important and fundamental provisions of our constitution and then say to everyone that it was all OK, because our leaders told us to do it, and furthermore, ask that you not be responsible as the rest of us are, when we break a law.
As an example, I guess, would be me going out on the road, getting into an accident of my fault, and then as a defense saying that since the state gave me a drivers license, therefore I must be a qualified and experienced driver so I am not responsible for the damage I did. ridiculous.