How civil liberties groups split over Senate wiretap bill

[Declan McCullagh]

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,47490,00.html

   ...

   Civil liberties groups have split over how to react to the impending
   vote on the most important wiretapping and eavesdropping bill in a
   generation.
   
   The American Civil Liberties Union has taken a hard-line approach,
   asking its members to reject the entire bill. An alert calls the USA
   Act "a bill that would significantly undermine many of the freedoms
   that Americans hold dear."
   
   The Electronic Frontier Foundation of San Francisco has taken a
   similar position, saying that "Sen. Feingold is expected to offer some
   amendments, but they will not address all of the concerns with this
   legislation."
   
   Feingold's amendments rewrite only a tiny portion of the vast bill.
   Even with them, the USA Act would still allow police to conduct
   Internet eavesdropping without a court order in some circumstances,
   allow federal prosecutors to imprison non-citizens indefinitely, and
   extend the duration of an electronic surveillance order issued by a
   secret court from 90 to 120 days.
   
   The Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology is taking a
   noticeably milder approach.
   
   CDT is not urging the activists who populate its e-mail alert lists to
   tell their senators to oppose the USA Act. Instead, in an alert dated
   late Wednesday, CDT says: "Call your senators in Washington right away
   and let them know that you think civil liberties should be part of the
   balance as we move forward to protect our country from terrorism. Urge
   them to support the Feingold privacy amendments."

   ...