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U.S. intelligence mining data from nine U.S. Internet companies in broad secret program — The National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio, video, photographs, e-mails, documents and connection logs …
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Firedoglake, Politico, Wake up America, Business Insider, The Next Web, Mediaite, AEIdeas, The Plum Line, Guardian, Wired, Shakesville, The Week, The Hill, GigaOM, The Fix, Hot Air, americanthinker.com, Outside the Beltway, AMERICAblog, CANNONFIRE, Daily Mail, The Daily Caller, Betsy's Page, WJLA-TV, Gawker, CBS News, The Volokh Conspiracy, CBS Denver, ABCNEWS, Weasel Zippers, Right Wing News, The Verge, Booman Tribune, ABCNEWS, The PJ Tatler, The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, The Gateway Pundit, Mashable, TalkLeft, msnbc.com, San Francisco Bay Guardian, The Spectacle Blog, Power Line, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice and Hit & Run
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NSA PRISM program taps in to user data of Apple, Google and others — • Top secret PRISM program claims direct access to servers of firms including Google, Skype and Yahoo — • Companies deny any knowledge of program in operation since 2007 — The National Security Agency …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Yahoo! News, Forbes, TechCrunch, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, The Volokh Conspiracy, BuzzFeed, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos, AllThingsD, Balloon Juice, TIME, The Dish, GigaOM, msnbc.com, Informed Comment, BBC, Boing Boing, The Next Web, The Moderate Voice, The Hill, Taylor Marsh, The Week, The Hinterland Gazette, The Agonist, Washington Post, Pressing Issues, Associated Press, The Raw Story, The Verge, The Atlantic Online, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Samizdata, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Hit & Run, VodkaPundit and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

President Obama's Dragnet — Within hours of the disclosure that the federal authorities routinely collect data on phone calls Americans make, regardless of whether they have any bearing on a counterterrorism investigation, the Obama administration issued the same platitude it has offered every …
Discussion:
American Prospect, Yahoo! News, Crooks and Liars, Bloomberg, Taking Note, Colorlines, Weasel Zippers, DownWithTyranny!, Guardian, Washington Post, Slate, National Review, Conservative Intelligence …, CBS Boston, CBS News, Israel Matzav, Via Meadia, Los Angeles Times, Ed Driscoll, Politico, Right Turn, Pressing Issues, ParaPundit, Mediaite, Lawfare, Outside the Beltway, The Huffington Post, The Next Web, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Wired, Business Insider, Hot Air, Pundit & Pundette, Hit & Run and Firedoglake, more at Mediagazer »


Anti-Surveillance Activist Is at Center of New Leak — After writing intensely, even obsessively, for years about government surveillance and the prosecution of journalists, Glenn Greenwald has suddenly put himself directly at the intersection of those two issues, and perhaps in the cross hairs of federal prosecutors.


Thank You for Data-Mining — The NSA's ‘metadata’ surveillance is legal and necessary. — Well, another day, another Washington furor. This one is over a National Security Agency phone data monitoring program, but unlike the other White House scandals there seems to be little here that is scandalous.
Discussion:
Althouse, Outside the Beltway, Right Turn, National Review and Guardian

N.Y. Times changes scathing editorial — The New York Times editorial board has quietly changed the language in the most widely cited line from Thursday's scathing editorial about the Obama administration's surveillance of U.S. citizens. — The line — “The administration has now lost all credibility” …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Mediaite, National Review and Althouse, more at Mediagazer »


UK gaining secret intelligence via NSA operation — Exclusive: UK security agency GCHQ gaining information from world's biggest internet firms through US-run Prism programme — The UK's electronic eavesdropping and security agency, GCHQ, has been secretly gathering intelligence …
Discussion:
The Next Web, Engadget, GigaOM and Boing Boing

DNI Statement on Recent Unauthorized Disclosures of Classified Information — The highest priority of the Intelligence Community is to work within the constraints of law to collect, analyze and understand information related to potential threats to our national security.
Discussion:
protein wisdom, The Volokh Conspiracy, Guardian, The Hinterland Gazette, The Verge, Yahoo! News and RT

DNI Statement on Activities Authorized Under Section 702 of FISA — The Guardian and The Washington Post articles refer to collection of communications pursuant to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. They contain numerous inaccuracies.
Discussion:
Business Insider, Weekly Standard, Mashable, The Daily Caller, The Next Web and Hit & Run


Admit It, Rep. Sensenbrenner: You Were Wrong About the Patriot Act — An author of the controversial legislation keeps defending it — even though he's felt betrayed by related abuses three times. — Upon hearing that the FBI sought and received the phone data from millions …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Politico, Lawfare and emptywheel

Data Collection Isn't Data Abuse — Yet
Discussion:
The Hugh Hewitt Show and LewRockwell.com Blog

New York Times quietly changes published editorial to make it less damning of Obama
Discussion:
Hot Air, NewsBusters, JustOneMinute, Twitchy, Gawker, Mediaite and Yahoo! News

On whistleblowers and government threats of investigation
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, more at Mediagazer »

DNI: WaPo, Guardian Articles Contained ‘Numerous Inaccuracies’
Discussion:
Business Insider

Obama sponsored bill that would have made Verizon order illegal
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Politico, Hot Air, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Documents: U.S. mining data from 9 leading Internet firms; companies deny knowledge
Discussion:
The Week, The Atlantic Wire, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Firedoglake, Daily Kos and Towleroad News #gay

NSA slides explain the PRISM data-collection program
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, The Next Web, Business Insider, Politico, The Hill, The Week, ThinkProgress and The PJ Tatler

Stop Freaking Out About the NSA
Discussion:
Hit & Run and American Prospect

US spy chief Clapper defends Prism and phone surveillance
Discussion:
New York Times and Guardian

The government needs to explain about the NSA's phone data program
Discussion:
Business Insider

U.S. Confirms That It Gathers Online Data Overseas
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, ThinkProgress, Guardian, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daniel W. Drezner, The Huffington Post, National Review, Business Insider, The Week, Wonkblog, Economix, The Hill, Politico, News Desk, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Taegan Goddard's …, The Monkey Cage, The Volokh Conspiracy, AllThingsD, Balloon Juice, GigaOM, TechCrunch, msnbc.com, The Next Web and Patterico's Pontifications

The New York Times Quietly Softened Its Scathing Obama Editorial
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Pressing Issues and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Author of Patriot Act: FBI's FISA Order is Abuse of Patriot Act
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Hit & Run, Mediaite and Post Politics

Leaks Overshadow Obama's Meeting With President of China
Discussion:
New York Times and TechCrunch

America through the N.S.A.'s PRISM
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, susiemadrak.com, Business Insider and The Week


Misfired 2010 email alerted IRS officials in Washington of targeting — (Reuters) - A misfired email from a U.S. Internal Revenue Service employee in Cincinnati alerted a number of Washington IRS officials that extra scrutiny was being placed on conservative groups in July 2010 …
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, CBS DC, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools


George W. Bush critics turn wrath on President Obama — A club of Capitol Hill liberals made life hell for George W. Bush in his second term. — Now the gang is back — and they don't care that this time the president is their guy. — In the last few weeks, some of the loudest anti-Bush voices …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, White House Dossier and BuzzFeed

Why Obama Keeps Losing at the Supreme Court — In cases before the Supreme Court last year, President Barack Obama's Justice Department relied on outlandish legal theories that pushed a constitutional interpretation of extreme federal power. That posture led to unanimous losses in three …


Why Republicans Can Get Away With Ignoring Their Problems — The GOP can enjoy another strong midterm election in 2014 without doing much more to attract young or minority voters. — Republicans have a problem with young voters. Democrats have a problem with young nonvoters.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Yahoo! News


President Obama's let's-have-a-debate defense — The Obama administration has a familiar refrain on the surveillance of Americans' telephone records: the president and his team are eager to have the debate. — Eager, that is, only after others have brought the tactics to light and the administration has spent years employing them.
Discussion:
Hot Air and Pirate's Cove