Chamber of Commerce Supports Immunity for Telecoms

February 27, 2008
Chamber of Commerce Supports Immunity for Telecoms

Therefore, the Chamber urges the House to consider S. 2248 and pass this bipartisan compromise legislation. The Chamber firmly believes that the immunity provisions in S. 2248 are imperative to preserving the self-sustaining “public-private partnership” that both Congress and the Executive Branch have sought to protect the United States in the post-September 11 world. The Chamber encourages you consider the effects on the nation’s security should private sector involvement be muted and relegated to the sidelines in instances when industries can help the government protect this nation.

Clear Majority Rejects Immunity for Phone Companies

January 18, 2008
Clear Majority Rejects Immunity for Phone Companies

Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters favor requiring the government to obtain a warrant from a court
before wiretapping the conversations U.S. citizens have with people in other countries—a figure quite consistent with the 61% opposition we found in October. An outright majority of voters (55%)
“strongly” supports requiring warrants. Only one-third (33%) support warrantless wiretaps of Americans’ international conversations, with fewer than 1-in-4 (24%) strongly supporting
warrantless wiretaps.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of voters reject immunity for phone companies that may have violated the law by selling customers’ private information to the government, preferring to let courts decide the outcome of any cases. Again intensity favors opponents of immunity, with 45% "strongly" opposed. Just one-third (33%) support immunity for the phone companies, with only about 1-in-5
(22%) strongly supporting immunity.