[Techdirt] Feds Reach Settlement With Internet Companies Allowing Them To Report Not Nearly Enough Details On Surveillance Efforts

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It appears that the lawsuit that a bunch of big internet companies had filed against the NSA in an attempt to reveal just how often they get FISA court information requests and how many of their users are impacted is now over, as the government has reached a settlement with the companies, allowing them slightly more leeway in sharing information, but in a very limiting way. […]

Furthermore, the agreement has a ridiculous clause that says if a FISA court order covers a “new capability” […], the companies cannot share that information for two years. The thinking here is rather obvious. Say, for example, a company launches a new voice communications service, like Skype — and then gets hit with a FISA court order demanding that the NSA be able to listen in. The companies would be blocked from revealing that for two years.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140127/17253826014/feds-reach-settlement-with-internet-companies-allowing-them-to-report-not-nearly-enough-details-surveillance-efforts.shtml