Whistleblower confirms Warrantless Wiretap Program Surveyed ALL U.S. Communications

Blow them whistles!

Wired has the scoop on the amazing/saddening/unsurprising revelation that the warrantless wiretapping program carried out by the NSA under the Bush administration placed ALL citizens under a surveillance dragnet.

2 things immediately struck me about this:

1) Why not sooner? Now, I realize this guy has already gone through a ton of crap for doing the right thing, and will likely go through more media-crucifiction at the hands of Bill O'Reilly and the likes... but seriously, why couldn't he have said this months or years ago when someone important could have actually been punished for it?

2)Why isn't this all over the front page of the New York Times, Washington Post, and other major news sources?

RIAA ends war against consumers, remains silly.

Tiny Mix Tapes has an excellent update on the RIAA's case against Joel Tenenbaum, a student that downloaded 7 songs and is being sued for one million dollars. The judge has agreed to allow the trial to be broadcast live through streaming video on the Internet, a decision which the RIAA is fighting. Furthermore, the Berkman Center for the Internet and Society at Havard Law School (Tenenbaum's pro-bono legal aid) will be distributing the video under the Creative Commons license.

Well done.