FISA court asks government to declassify secret order in Yahoo case

The U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has ordered the government to declassify its secret order and parties’ briefs in a case which Yahoo expects will demonstrate that it resisted government directives.

The court ruled on Monday that the government should do a “declassification review” of the court’s memorandum of opinion in 2008 and legal briefs submitted by the parties, as it anticipates publishing its opinion in a redacted form. The government will have to report to the court by July 29 on the likely dates for the completion of the declassification of the documents, with priority given to the court opinion, Judge Reggie B. Walton wrote in the order.

Yahoo said in a filing to the court last week that disclosure of the information would show that it objected at every stage of the proceedings, but the objections were overruled and a stay denied. Yahoo like other electronic communications providers is under public pressure to provide more information about its response to U.S. government demands for user data, it said.

SOURCE: itnews.com