Microsoft is seeking permission to disclose "aggregate statistics" about the number of requests for data it receives under the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, following a similar move by Google earlier this month.
FISA has been thrust into the national spotlight after leaks about the U.S. government's Prism surveillance program, which reportedly provides the National Security Agency with direct access to customer data stored by Microsoft, Facebook, Google and other big technology companies.
Currently, online firms can reveal how many FISA requests they receive only if they lump them together with all other requests from U.S. law enforcement agencies. That obscures the number of FISA requests those companies receive, so Microsoft, like Google before it, has asked for permission to break the numbers out. The FISA Amendments Act (FAA) is the law under which Prism's data collection is carried out.
"To promote additional transparency concerning the government's lawful access to Microsoft's customer data, Microsoft seeks to report aggregate information about FISA orders and FAA directives separately from all other local, state and federal law enforcement demands," Microsoft's lawyers wrote in a motion filed with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Its goal is partly to correct the impression that it provides the government direct access to customer data in its servers, something that has led to criticism of Microsoft and other online firms.
"Microsoft has sought -- and continues to seek -- to correct the misimpression, furthered by such inaccurate media reporting, that it provides the U.S. government with direct access to its servers and network infrastructure and, thereby, indiscriminately discloses Microsoft users' information to the government," Microsoft's attorneys wrote.
Microsoft has not received permission from the FBI or the Department of Justice to disclose additional figures related to FISA requests in the aggregate, but "there is no statutory basis under FISA or the FAA for precluding Microsoft from disclosing the aggregate data," the company said.
Prohibiting such a disclosure, Microsoft argues, violates its First Amendment right to free speech.
Companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter have also called for greater transparency in disclosure of user data tied to government requests in the wake of Prism's revelations.
Yahoo, for instance, has disclosed the total number of law enforcement requests it receives for customer data, but it too is unable to provide greater transparency around FISA requests specifically.
Facebook has made some requests public in recent weeks, but was still criticized by others for not distinguishing between criminal and security information requests.
Microsoft disclosed its figures for the total number of requests it receives for customer information on June 14. For the last six months of 2012, the company received between 6,000 and 7,000 criminal and national security warrants, subpoenas and orders affecting between 31,000 and 32,000 consumer accounts from U.S. governmental entities, Microsoft reported in a recent blog post.
Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl
Showing posts with label Straight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Straight. Show all posts
Friday, 28 June 2013
Same-Sex Marriage Law Could Mean Wedding Bells for Straight Hollywood Couples
Wedding bells may be ringing for more than just gay Hollywood in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Prop 8, legalizing same-sex marriage in the state of California.
Kristen Bell marked the occasion by asking her fiancé (and father of her baby girl) Dax Shepard to finally tie the knot after four years of betrothal.
STORY: Supreme Court Strikes Down Gay Marriage Ban: Hollywood Reacts
"@daxshepard1 will you marry me? Xo," wrote Bell, to which her future husband replied, "F--- yes!!!"
See, Bell and Shepard said that they wouldn't make their union official until their gay friends could do the same.
"Once it's official and everybody stops appealing it the minute before it passes, we'll get married," the House of Lies star said on Larry King Now in August 2012.
But the future Mr. and Mrs. Shepard are hardly alone. They join several other straight Hollywood couples -- and singles -- who have made similar pacts.
In 2006, longtime partners Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made clear that they would not tie the knot until all couples could, with the actor telling Esquire that "Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able." And while Pitt did put a ring on it in 2012, the duo has yet to make it down the aisle.
Q&A: What the Supreme Court's Prop 8 Ruling Means for California
Sarah Silverman made her stance known via Twitter back in 2010, slamming those straight couples who wed prior to marriage equality.
"Just a suggestion: Boycott marriage until it's legal 4 everyone," she wrote. "If u marry in this climate u are against equal rights."
Charlize Theron has said that she opposes the institution of marriage as a whole, but expressed disdain for the government dictating that decision for others.
"It's a divine right, and when government starts to tell us who can love and what is good love… I do have a problem with that," she told Piers Morgan in 2011. "I do have a problem with the fact that our government hasn't stepped up enough to make this federal, to make [gay marriage] legal."
Jason Mraz popped the question to Tristan Prettyman in 2010, but told Us Weekly that they weren't quite ready to follow through.
"The wedding would be nice for our family, our friends, our community -- our moms especially -- and so it puts us in the fight. We can't get married until [gay] marriage is legal and equal… I think giving people the right to marry will be a huge movement in civil rights," he said. However, the duo has since called off their engagement.
But not every star in favor of marriage-for-all has stuck to their guns. Natalie Portman, Howard Stern and Jodie Sweetin have all, at one time or another, said they'd swear off the nuptials until same-sex couples had the same rights.
Their statuses: Married, married and separated (from her third husband), respectively.
Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl
Kristen Bell marked the occasion by asking her fiancé (and father of her baby girl) Dax Shepard to finally tie the knot after four years of betrothal.
STORY: Supreme Court Strikes Down Gay Marriage Ban: Hollywood Reacts
"@daxshepard1 will you marry me? Xo," wrote Bell, to which her future husband replied, "F--- yes!!!"
See, Bell and Shepard said that they wouldn't make their union official until their gay friends could do the same.
"Once it's official and everybody stops appealing it the minute before it passes, we'll get married," the House of Lies star said on Larry King Now in August 2012.
But the future Mr. and Mrs. Shepard are hardly alone. They join several other straight Hollywood couples -- and singles -- who have made similar pacts.
In 2006, longtime partners Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made clear that they would not tie the knot until all couples could, with the actor telling Esquire that "Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able." And while Pitt did put a ring on it in 2012, the duo has yet to make it down the aisle.
Q&A: What the Supreme Court's Prop 8 Ruling Means for California
Sarah Silverman made her stance known via Twitter back in 2010, slamming those straight couples who wed prior to marriage equality.
"Just a suggestion: Boycott marriage until it's legal 4 everyone," she wrote. "If u marry in this climate u are against equal rights."
Charlize Theron has said that she opposes the institution of marriage as a whole, but expressed disdain for the government dictating that decision for others.
"It's a divine right, and when government starts to tell us who can love and what is good love… I do have a problem with that," she told Piers Morgan in 2011. "I do have a problem with the fact that our government hasn't stepped up enough to make this federal, to make [gay marriage] legal."
Jason Mraz popped the question to Tristan Prettyman in 2010, but told Us Weekly that they weren't quite ready to follow through.
"The wedding would be nice for our family, our friends, our community -- our moms especially -- and so it puts us in the fight. We can't get married until [gay] marriage is legal and equal… I think giving people the right to marry will be a huge movement in civil rights," he said. However, the duo has since called off their engagement.
But not every star in favor of marriage-for-all has stuck to their guns. Natalie Portman, Howard Stern and Jodie Sweetin have all, at one time or another, said they'd swear off the nuptials until same-sex couples had the same rights.
Their statuses: Married, married and separated (from her third husband), respectively.
Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl
Thursday, 27 June 2013
Microsoft asks to disclose FISA requests to set the record straight
Microsoft is seeking permission to disclose "aggregate statistics" about the number of requests for data it receives under the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, following a similar move by Google earlier this month.
FISA has been thrust into the national spotlight after leaks about the U.S. government's Prism surveillance program, which reportedly provides the National Security Agency with direct access to customer data stored by Microsoft, Facebook, Google and other big technology companies.
Currently, online firms can reveal how many FISA requests they receive only if they lump them together with all other requests from U.S. law enforcement agencies. That obscures the number of FISA requests those companies receive, so Microsoft, like Google before it, has asked for permission to break the numbers out. The FISA Amendments Act (FAA) is the law under which Prism's data collection is carried out.
"To promote additional transparency concerning the government's lawful access to Microsoft's customer data, Microsoft seeks to report aggregate information about FISA orders and FAA directives separately from all other local, state and federal law enforcement demands," Microsoft's lawyers wrote in a motion filed with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Its goal is partly to correct the impression that it provides the government direct access to customer data in its servers, something that has led to criticism of Microsoft and other online firms.
"Microsoft has sought -- and continues to seek -- to correct the misimpression, furthered by such inaccurate media reporting, that it provides the U.S. government with direct access to its servers and network infrastructure and, thereby, indiscriminately discloses Microsoft users' information to the government," Microsoft's attorneys wrote.
Microsoft has not received permission from the FBI or the Department of Justice to disclose additional figures related to FISA requests in the aggregate, but "there is no statutory basis under FISA or the FAA for precluding Microsoft from disclosing the aggregate data," the company said.
Prohibiting such a disclosure, Microsoft argues, violates its First Amendment right to free speech.
Companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter have also called for greater transparency in disclosure of user data tied to government requests in the wake of Prism's revelations.
Yahoo, for instance, has disclosed the total number of law enforcement requests it receives for customer data, but it too is unable to provide greater transparency around FISA requests specifically.
Facebook has made some requests public in recent weeks, but was still criticized by others for not distinguishing between criminal and security information requests.
Microsoft disclosed its figures for the total number of requests it receives for customer information on June 14. For the last six months of 2012, the company received between 6,000 and 7,000 criminal and national security warrants, subpoenas and orders affecting between 31,000 and 32,000 consumer accounts from U.S. governmental entities, Microsoft reported in a recent blog post.
FISA has been thrust into the national spotlight after leaks about the U.S. government's Prism surveillance program, which reportedly provides the National Security Agency with direct access to customer data stored by Microsoft, Facebook, Google and other big technology companies.
Currently, online firms can reveal how many FISA requests they receive only if they lump them together with all other requests from U.S. law enforcement agencies. That obscures the number of FISA requests those companies receive, so Microsoft, like Google before it, has asked for permission to break the numbers out. The FISA Amendments Act (FAA) is the law under which Prism's data collection is carried out.
"To promote additional transparency concerning the government's lawful access to Microsoft's customer data, Microsoft seeks to report aggregate information about FISA orders and FAA directives separately from all other local, state and federal law enforcement demands," Microsoft's lawyers wrote in a motion filed with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Its goal is partly to correct the impression that it provides the government direct access to customer data in its servers, something that has led to criticism of Microsoft and other online firms.
"Microsoft has sought -- and continues to seek -- to correct the misimpression, furthered by such inaccurate media reporting, that it provides the U.S. government with direct access to its servers and network infrastructure and, thereby, indiscriminately discloses Microsoft users' information to the government," Microsoft's attorneys wrote.
Microsoft has not received permission from the FBI or the Department of Justice to disclose additional figures related to FISA requests in the aggregate, but "there is no statutory basis under FISA or the FAA for precluding Microsoft from disclosing the aggregate data," the company said.
Prohibiting such a disclosure, Microsoft argues, violates its First Amendment right to free speech.
Companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter have also called for greater transparency in disclosure of user data tied to government requests in the wake of Prism's revelations.
Yahoo, for instance, has disclosed the total number of law enforcement requests it receives for customer data, but it too is unable to provide greater transparency around FISA requests specifically.
Facebook has made some requests public in recent weeks, but was still criticized by others for not distinguishing between criminal and security information requests.
Microsoft disclosed its figures for the total number of requests it receives for customer information on June 14. For the last six months of 2012, the company received between 6,000 and 7,000 criminal and national security warrants, subpoenas and orders affecting between 31,000 and 32,000 consumer accounts from U.S. governmental entities, Microsoft reported in a recent blog post.
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