Senate Telecom Immunity Bill
Threatens Maine Privacy Complaint

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, December 17, 2007

Portland- Today, the Senate is debating a telecommunications immunity bill, S. 2248, that may put an end to a Maine privacy complaint about warrantless surveillance.  The proposed legislation, recently passed by the Senate Intelligence Committee, proposes to extend blanket immunity from investigation or lawsuit to any telecommunications company that conspired with the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless surveillance of the telephone and Internet communications of reportedly millions of Americans. 

“Mainers deserve to know if the telephone company and the federal government conspired to spy on them,” said Zachary Heiden, Legal Director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation.  “Congress should not grant an entire industry carte blanche to disobey the law and trample on customer privacy.”

In May of 2006, 22 Maine Verizon customers filed a privacy complaint with the Maine Public Utilities Commission.  The federal government sued to stop the investigation.  That lawsuit is one of dozens of lawsuits against the telephone company that have been consolidated in a single proceeding before a Federal Court in California.  Notably, the privacy complaint against Verizon does not contain any request for monetary damages.  All of the lawsuits against the telephone companies request a permanent cessation of warrantless surveillance.  The Bush Administration has requested that Congress move before any of the lawsuits are decided, although there is nothing that would prevent Congress from waiting to decide the immunity question after the courts have weighed in on the constitutionality of the warrantless spy program.