From the US Senate: "Take your due process and shove it" (reject, America)

[yossarian22]

Well, hopefully you are aware of the skeleton in the telecommunication industry's closet, namely the warrentless wire tapping. The telecoms certainly loved it; Comcast got paid $1000 a pop for every such tap. The Electronic Frontier Foundation was not pleased, and hit Verizon, AT&T, BellSouth, Sprint, and Cingular with a class action lawsuit. That lawsuit could cost the government and telecoms millions. Not a great situation for a warrantless wiretapper. Well, our duly elected representatives in the Senate decided that they couldn't let that happen. A new bill, largely backed by the Republicans, strolled its way through the Senate by a vote of 68-29. The bill, besides increasing the reach of US authorities who lack warrants and slightly increasing the rights of law abiding Americans, would provide the telecoms full retroactive immunity for any liability, killing the EFF's lawsuit. The bill acts as an extension for another temporary bill. If the House does not pass this bill quickly, or simply rejects it, the previous temprorary bill expires Saturday.

Update:
The Democratic led House refused to schedule an immediate vote on the bill, causing the GOP to walkout in protest.