Don't you know that it was okay when Bush did it - sm

Dont you know it is not the same thing to them - Because

I keep asking, no one answers. Did Bush spy on - the whole country?

Yes. - nm

Proof, please. - me

Link provided in new post above. - sm

the current admin is NOT surveilling the whole country - sm

You forgot AT&T and Sprint. Also, the internet. - nm

show me - nm

The supporting links are all over this board. - sm

Here ya go - Truthhurts

Check out the FISA Amendment of 2008 here and note that it was supposed to sunset at the end of 2012.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121391360949290049.html

Excerpt from article linked below:  The National Security Agency and the FBI are siphoning personal data from the main computer servers of nine major U.S. Internet firms, The Washington Post and the London-based Guardian reported Thursday night.

"PRISM is not an undisclosed collection or data mining program," Clapper said in a fact sheet on the program.

The system manages foreign intelligence information collected under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. "The authority was created by the Congress and has been widely known and publicly discussed since its inception in 2008," he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/08/dni-declassifies-prism-data-collection-nsa-secret-program-obama/2403999/

And then you have this where it's stated the following companies VOLUNTARILY join PRISM:

The participation of the internet companies in Prism will add to the debate, ignited by the Verizon revelation, about the scale of surveillance by the intelligence services. Unlike the collection of those call records, this surveillance can include the content of communications and not just the metadata.

Some of the world's largest internet brands are claimed to be part of the information-sharing program since its introduction in 2007.Microsoft – which is currently running an advertising campaign with the slogan "Your privacy is our priority" – was the first, with collection beginning in December 2007.

It was followed by Yahoo in 2008; Google, Facebook and PalTalk in 2009; YouTube in 2010; Skype and AOL in 2011; and finally Apple, which joined the program in 2012. The program is continuing to expand, with other providers due to come online.

Collectively, the companies cover the vast majority of online email, search, video and communications networks.

The extent and nature of the data collected from each company varies.

Companies are legally obliged to comply with requests for users' communications under US law, but the Prism program allows the intelligence services direct access to the companies' servers. The NSA document notes the operations have "assistance of communications providers in the US".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data

And finally is this:

The Guardian also reported that no court orders were needed, and that the agency could dip into the servers of Google and others both to monitor real-time communication as well as to pull out archived data.

“The presentation claims PRISM was introduced to overcome what the NSA regarded as shortcomings of FISA warrants in tracking suspected foreign terrorists,” the report said.

The surveillance activities used in the PRISM program may be based on provisions in the  FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which authorizes the government to monitor electronic communications if one of the communicating parties is believed to be outside the U.S.  Critics say the law allows for the warrantless surveillance of electronic communications such as email and phone calls, of not only foreigners but U.S. citizens. An ACLU lawsuit challenging the law’s constitutionality was dismissed 5-4 by the Supreme Court last February.

“If the Washington Post story checks out, what they [the NSA and FBI] did is illegal,” EFF’s Cardozo says. “The FISA Amendments Act was not meant to authorize anything of this scope.”

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2040991/report-nsa-prism-program-spied-on-americans-emails-searches.html

Did you not read your own post? - sm

"PRISM is not an undisclosed collection or data mining program," Clapper said in a fact sheet on the program.

 In other words, PRISM IS a DISCLOSED collection or data mining program.

...and we keep right on posting - link after link in reply. nm

ROFLMBO!!! Exactly! - nm