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back to article Feds drop bid for warrantless access to Yahoo! mail

The federal government has dropped its controversial bid to read messages in a Yahoo! email account without getting a search warrant. In a two-page document filed Friday, federal prosecutors in Colorado said the documents "would not be helpful to the government's investigation," the specifics of which have never been disclosed …

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  1. TimeMaster T
    Black Helicopters

    Any bets?

    Anyone want to bet that the only reason the feds backed off is the amount of publicity this case was getting and the number of high profile corporations/organizations who lined up to oppose them?

    The DOJ knew they would face a nasty fight and likely loose, or win but look like the SS, and end up in front of some congressional committee either way. It would cost them more than they want to pay right now.

    They will just continue as they do now, get the data using National Security Letters or the NSA eavesdropping or some other such "under the radar" BS.

    I'll also take bets on how soon it will be before there is a high profile "Terrorist Plot" (TM) that they will say they stopped by reading emails without a warrant and insinuate that if you complain and say they should have gotten a warrant then you are "Aiding the Terrorists". I give it about 6-9 months, more likely it would be after any elections.

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Big Brother

      Another reason might be ..

      .. that they found an insider they could blackmail. That seems to be the US modus operandi internationally, so I can't see why they should limited themselves to places they cannot pronounce..

      After all, they got away once with spying domestically, so what's the problem? They're probably already doing it and needed approval retrospectively..

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  2. Eddy Ito
    Black Helicopters

    I suspect

    The FBI has likely gotten into the account, read the mail and decided it doesn't need it for prosecution.

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  3. John Tserkezis

    Who would have thought?

    Shock and horror. Horror and shock.

    Who would have thought that someone could be reading your mail on an unencrypted internet access channel without your knowledge?

    But now that the government cannot do it without a warrant, we can rest assured that can never ever possibly happen.

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The retreat precludes the possibility of a court precedent requiring a search warrant

    ...which is of course why they retreated.

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Security Services..

    Taking the piss as usual..

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  6. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge
    WTF?

    One party system

    "The DOJ knew they would face a nasty fight and likely loose, or win but look like the SS, and end up in front of some congressional committee either way."

    Too late, DOJ & Homeland Security already come across like the SS. Well I would say they are more like the Stasi in actuality. And Congress are pussies, the Republicans want large, costly, intrusive gov't for the defense of the country. The Democrats want large, costly, intrusive gov't to make sure people are behaving in the interests of the country as a whole. They pretend they are completely different, splitting hairs over WHY they want a massive intrusive gov't, but the result is that BOTH fully support the erosion of our constitutional rights. This current 2-party system is completely defective, they slow each other down but overall act effectively like a single party.

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  7. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Alt headline: "Big Brother pulls back before the next election"

    It sounds great, to me. Overachieving patriotism does have its limits, too, after all....

    Yay feds! (Can't believe I'd actually want to say that, for once...)

    Anon. because - well, just because.

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  8. lglethal Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    Hang on a damn minute...

    Federal prosecutors in Colorado said the documents "would not be helpful to the government's investigation,"

    Then why the hell did they try in the first place? Either they would be helpful to the investigation or they wouldnt? If they wouldnt be helpful, then theres no reason to try in the first place is there?

    I smell something fishy here...

    Is there any possibility of getting the court to sanction the prosecutors for wasting court time?

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