Good news.

“The Senate voted Tuesday to shield from lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop on their customers without court permission after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

After nearly two months of stops and starts, the Senate rejected by a vote of 31 to 67 a move to strip away a grant of retroactive legal immunity for the companies.

President Bush has promised to veto any new surveillance bill that does not protect the companies that helped the government in its warrantless wiretapping program, arguing that it is essential if the private sector is to give the government the help it needs.

About 40 lawsuits have been filed against telecom companies by people alleging violations of wiretapping and privacy laws.

The Senate also rejected two amendments that sought to water down the immunity provision.

One, co-sponsored by Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, would have substituted the government for the telecoms in lawsuits, allowing the court cases to go forward but shifting the cost and burden of defending the program.

The other, pushed by California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, would have given a secret court that oversees government surveillance inside the United States the power to dismiss lawsuits if it found that the companies acted in good faith and on the request of the president or attorney general.

Full telecom immunity must still be approved by the House; its version of the surveillance bill does not provide immunity.”

House has the votes, and it’s a good thing. As I mentioned on numerous occasions it’s a misnomer to say that that companies “assisted” the government only after 9/11. The Telecommunication Act of 1996 mandated compliance from telecoms for law enforcement purposes, which is the precursor to the expansion of the mandate after 9/11. Telecom companies had no choice but to comply.

Holding them to frivolous law suits by persons and groups such as the ACLU - who have never proven that anyone had been personally harmed from the program was stupid and it’s about time the government put a stop to the madness.

This of course pisses off the nutroots including the Sock Puppet, which in his usual confusing and convoluted way shows he’s not worth reading.