codyg1985’s Think Tank

The U.S. government has obtained search records from Yahoo, AOL and MSN in an effort to defend against a lawsuit brought on by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) (didn’t see that one coming (!)). However, one very important search service is not included, so far, and that is Google.

Supposedly the government is looking at searches for online pornography, but anything in the records could be fair game. According to the government, no privacy infringement took place because there are no names or IP addresses associated with the search results.

The ACLU claims that the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. What is ironic is that the government is obtaining search records which may obstruct privacy and civil liberties to defend itself against the American Civil Liberties Union.