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Comment on NSA Boss Asks Congress For Blanket Immunity For Companies That Help NSA Spyparent

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It's not like the subpoena is a new and novel legal instrument.

Subpoenas are intended to recover specific pieces of evidence to prove guilt in a trial. They are not meant for blanket vacuuming of data, or for discovery.

Not true. Discovery subpoenas are well-established legal instruments; the term 'subpoena' just means 'under penalty,' in other words it carries the authority of the court or issuing agency to impose punishment for non-compliance with the terms. See for example http://www.weil.com/files/Publication/9f7ab3cd-f7d4-4eb5-b98...

The term 'discovery' has a specific legal meaning, and I'm not sure if that was what you actually meant.

Subpoenas are a basic tool of discovery, a very broad instrument for collecting relevant information. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subpoena_duces_tecum

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