Why Isn't The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Staffed?

from the questions,-questions dept

Certainly one of the biggest questions concerning both the last president and the current one has been the general disregard for certain civil liberties -- especially on issues like domestic spying and warrantless wiretapping. Barry Steinhardt, over at Stanford's Center for Internet and Society, reminds us that the government is supposed to have a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, but it doesn't. This board was created by Congress a few years back after widespread abuses of civil liberties and privacy due to The Patriot Act were discovered. But, rather than do anything about it, President Bush ignored it until the very end of his term, and didn't even fully nominate the members. Meanwhile, President Obama has done absolutely nothing with the board. To be fair, he's been busy with lots of other stuff, but this is certainly an important issue, and it's a shame that it's been ignored. Unfortunately, it seems to indicate what those in the ultimate seat of power think about everyone's civil liberties and privacy.

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Politics

by Mike Masnick

Thu, Apr 23rd 2009 12:08pm

Administration Lobbyist Ban Not Doing What It's Supposed To Do

from the too-bad dept

While conceptually, I think many people appreciate President Obama's stance against bringing lobbyists into his administration, in all practicality, the rule has been a combination of meaningless or troubling. Tom Barger points to a NY Times article where many people are upset that some extremely qualified folks who worked for non-profit human rights organizations are being denied positions in the administration. There's been some pushing to get the administration to make an exception for human rights and non-profit lobbyists, noting that the intent of the rule was to bar corporate lobbyists from gaining too much influence, but the administration has struck down those suggestions, saying it leads to a slippery slope.

But, of course, in reality, we know that slippery slope already exists. That's because the ban on "lobbyists" is really only being used for folks who were officially registered as lobbyists. That leaves out tons of people who worked for these corporate entities or even for the lobbyist groups themselves, but weren't officially registered lobbyists themselves. We've already seen how the Justice Department is, for example, being filled with lawyers who regularly worked with the RIAA, MPAA and BSA -- three of the biggest copyright lobbying organizations, and those individuals have wasted no time in expressing their desire to continue pushing those industry's viewpoints in their new positions.

So the idea that lobbyists are being kept out is pretty silly. As the NY Times article notes, all this really does is encourage lobbyists not to register themselves as lobbyists, but to focus on lobbying unofficially, so that they can still get administration positions at a later date. That creates less openness and transparency, and a larger risk of regulatory capture, rather than a diminished one. We all like the idea of trying to keep corporate influence out of the law making (and law enforcement) side of government, but a blanket ban on all lobbyists, while letting non-lobbyist lobbyists in the back door isn't exactly reassuring.

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Politics

by Mike Masnick

Mon, Jun 16th 2008 6:20pm

Warrantless Wiretap 'Compromise' Really Just A Get Out Of Jail Free Card From The President

from the that-doesn't-seem-right dept

We've been following the ridiculous attempts by the administration to protect telcos who most likely broke the law in supplying warrantless wiretaps by trying to get "immunity" included in the new FISA bill. As we've pointed out, this makes absolutely no sense. If the administration or the telcos (or both) broke the law -- then that issue should be explored. Granting anyone immunity from even being tried for breaking the law doesn't seem appropriate. If there were special circumstances that explain why the telcos or the administration broke the law, why not at least have them come out in court rather than sweeping them all under the rug?

Unfortunately, now there's word coming out that a new "compromise" bill is likely to be approved. However, the details suggest this isn't a compromise. This is exactly what the administration wanted, and which some members of Congress have been fighting against. Basically, it would let the President say that he assured the telcos that their actions were legal -- and that would grant them immunity. In other words, this law would basically say that as long as the President tells you something is legal, it's automatically legal, and you can't get in trouble for doing it. That's not how the law is supposed to work -- and is a huge abuse of power. There's simply no way Congress should let this through, as it sets an awful precedent.

13 Comments | Leave a Comment..

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Why Isn't The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Staffed?

from the questions,-questions dept

Administration Lobbyist Ban Not Doing What It's Supposed To Do

from the too-bad dept

Warrantless Wiretap 'Compromise' Really Just A Get Out Of Jail Free Card From The President

from the that-doesn't-seem-right dept

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