No Dragnet, No Billions in Fines: Why Do Nation's Spying Telcos Need Immunity From Congress: President Bush, the nation's telecoms and the nation's top spook Michael McConnell are united in their efforts to have Congress give the nation's internet and phone companies immunity for alleged massive violations of the nation's privacy laws by helping the government spy on American's phone calls without warrants and turning over the phone records of all of their customers to a massive NSA data-mining program. They say the pending lawsuits against AT&T will bankrupt the companies.

But at the same time, both Bush and McConnell, along with others in the Administration have repeatedly described the programs as targeted and not a dragnet. 'Since fines for violating the nation's communications privacy laws are in the low thousands, how is it possible both for the government's warrantless spying program to be narrow, but their partner's real liability to be in the billions of dollars.

The only way that AT&T or Verizon could be liable for billions in fines is if there actually was a dragnet surveillance program.

Once again it seems the Administration can't help misleading Congress and engaging in hyperbolic misstatements to provide cover for its'imperial ambitions.

See Also:

• Nation's Top Spy Retracts Politically-Convenient Exaggeration ...
• We Needed Warrants to Wiretap Iraqi Insurgents, DNI Says: Is Top Spy Fibbing Again ...
• Debating Spy Laws Kills Americans and Telcos Did Spy on Americans ...
• Spies Spent 50000 Days in 2006 Writing Warrants, Chief Spy Says
• Telecoms Continue Push For Get-Out-of-Court Card for Illegal Spying

Photo: Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell being sworn in

(Read Original Article - Via Threat Level.)