EFF scores a victory in campaign against telecom spying

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has scored a victory in its [ongoing crusade](/government/article.php/3779006/Watchdog+Group+Takes+On+Telecom+Immunity+Law.htm) to wrest information from telecoms about their involvement in the government’s warrantless wiretapping program.

On Thursday, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered the government to disclose lobbying records detailing the telecom industry’s efforts to press for immunity about their participation in the program.

EFF attorney Marcia Hoffman praised the ruling as “a major victory for government transparency.”

The court’s decision upholds the EFF’s Freedom of Information Act request seeking records about the lobbying campaign, which DoJ and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had sought to suppress under FOIA exemptions.

In an amendment bill updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act enacted last year, [Congress upheld immunity for the telecoms](/security/article.php/3772641/EFF+Sues+Feds+to+Stop+Domestic+Spying.htm), though a bill introduced in the Senate last week seeks to reverse that protection.