The more I read about this, the more uneasy I get. And my "crossed fingers" that Democrats in Congress know what they're doing are past cramped, and turning gangrenous. When they come back in session, they'd better address this, because by then, I think they're going to have a firestorm on their hands.
NOTE: This is a revised version of the New York Times story I excerpted earlier, with updated information.
[Excerpt - emphasis mine]
Concerns Raised on Wider Spying Under New Law
WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 — Broad new surveillance powers approved by Congress this month could allow the Bush administration to conduct spy operations that go well beyond wiretapping to include — without court approval — certain types of physical searches on American soil and the collection of Americans’ business records, Democratic Congressional officials and other experts said. [snip]
The dispute illustrates how lawmakers, in a frenetic, end-of-session scramble, passed legislation they may not have fully understood and may have given the administration more surveillance powers than it sought. [snip]
Several legal experts said that by redefining the meaning of “electronic surveillance,” the new law narrows the types of communications covered in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, by indirectly giving the government the power to use intelligence collection methods far beyond wiretapping that previously required court approval if conducted inside the United States. . .
