Court decision: Yahoo forces release of Prism details - TIME ONLINE

The Internet company has unsuccessfully fought against in 2008, to become a part of Prism. Now, a court ruled: The U.S. government must disclose details about it

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The E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, DC

The U.S. government has parts of a secret court to disclose Spähprogramm prism. This was decided by the court to monitor the foreign intelligence service in Washington, which meets the secret “Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court” (Fisc). The Internet company Yahoo had requested that the government must disclose information about a case of data collection from the year 2008.

Yahoo had then been instructed by the government to publish customer data, but a report by the New York Times according had resisted. The broad requirements of the government were “unconstitutional,” the lawyers said at the time. The Judges of the Secret Court in Washington, but then decided in favor of the government. Yahoo had no choice: either the group pass it on, or he was breaking the law. So Yahoo in 2008 Spähprogramms part of the prism.

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Yahoo had 14 June requested to disclose details of this specific case of 2008. The company wants to prove that it has vehemently resisted the publication of user data, but ultimately lost. A company spokeswoman said the positive court decision will help to inform the public of the monitoring programs of the U.S. government.

two weeks, until 29 July, the U.S. government has time. Then they must announce how long it will take to determine which parts of the then secret proceedings may be published. The present decision of the Fisc is thus only a partial victory.

, Google and Microsoft want more transparency

unsealing of secret decisions of the Special Court Fisc is extremely rare. Last time it was done in 2002, said an employee of the Electric Frontier Foundation, Mark Rumold. At that time it had gone to a case in connection with the Patriot Act, the law that U.S. authorities after the attacks of 11 -September, 2001, more tools in the fight against terrorism.

Fisc actually intended to protect citizens against arbitrary actions of the secret without secret information reach the public. Its origins lie in the 1970s. At that time, the Senate convened a committee to investigate illegal espionage activities of U.S. intelligence against U.S. citizens. Later today the secret court went out of it – but the secret sits and falls decisions that are handed over to the companies concerned, together with a gag clause. The court is also known for almost never refuse a request from the government authorities to monitor specific people.

Google and Microsoft have also asked the court to be allowed to publish more information about the secret surveillance court

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