Fergie's Tech Blog

Congress Extends Patriot Act Another Five Weeks

Caron Carlson writes on eWeek:

Lawmakers remain at loggerheads in attempting to renew 16 controversial provisions of the USA Patriot Act, voting late Feb. 2 to give the provisions a second five-week extension to continue negotiations.

Because of their questionable impact on constitutional rights, Congress gave the 16 provisions a four-year expiration date when it hastily passed the Patriot Act in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The most hotly contested provisions expand the government's powers of search and seizure, including the authority to demand records from businesses simply by stating to a secret court that the records are related to an ongoing investigation of some kind.

posted by Fergie @ 2/03/2006 10:56:00 AM