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August 18, 2006
A Legal Setback For NSA Wiretaps
A federal court in Michigan ruled that the National Security Agency cannot keep monitoring phone calls and e-mails of Americans without first getting warrants.
An official with the American Civil Liberties Union called the decision "another nail in the coffin" of the government's legal strategy in the war on terror. But the Justice Department called the surveillance program a "critical tool" in combating terrorism and asked that the ruling be stayed pending appeal.
At Tech Daily this week, we continue our series on politics and technology, publishing multiple stories on the subject. At the top of the list was our look at the tech money flowing into campaigns.
Republican incumbents are benefiting the most from the dominant telephone and cable companies that are vying for an upper hand in the telecommunications debate. But a different picture emerged in Silicon Valley, where the top 20 donors gave either 100 percent or most of their money to Democrats.
Listen to the podcast for details on those stories and more.
Posted by Technology Daily at 11:52 AM | Permalink
August 11, 2006
Politics And Tech In Campaign 2006
With lawmakers at home campaigning, August presented a perfect opportunity for a special Tech Daily series on the intersection between politics and technology. Today's podcast covers this year's tech candidates, tech issues and tech tools and more.
The most visible congressional challenger thus far has been Ned Lamont, who this week defeated Sen. Joseph Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic primary.
Lamont successfully mobilized bloggers by attacking Lieberman's stance on the war in Iraq. He also pledged to match online donations to his campaign with cash from the fortune he made as the founder of Lamont Digital Systems.
Lamont won 52 percent of the vote to 48 percent for Lieberman, who now has vowed to run as an independent in the fall.
Listen to the podcast for more insights from our political package and for news from the tech policy scene.
Posted by Technology Daily at 11:04 AM | Permalink
August 04, 2006
R&D Credit Suffers Setback In Senate
House lawmakers left Washington last week for the annual August congressional recess, and senators joined them this week. But the Senate had one key tech issue on its agenda before leaving town: renewal of the research and development tax credit.
Unfortunately for techies who wanted the credit extended, the proposal suffered a setback despite some creative legislative maneuvering.
The House had included the R&D tax credit in a "trifecta" package of business tax extensions, a minimum-wage hike and a permanent reduction of the estate tax. But the attempt to link issues sought by both conservative and moderate Republicans failed to sway enough Democrats.
Other issues that surfaced this week -- or that Congress, the courts and the executive branch will face later this year -- included online child safety and speech, high-speed Internet service, and broadcast indecency. Listen to the podcast for details.
Posted by Technology Daily at 11:26 AM | Permalink
