Appeals court wrestles with secret US demands for telecom records

A US appeals court grappled with a lawsuit challenging the Federal Bureau of Investigation's ability to force Internet and telecommunications firms to turn over customer records without revealing the government's demands.

A lower court judge in San Francisco previously ruled such gag orders were unconstitutional in a lawsuit filed by an undisclosed telecom company. At a hearing, a three-judge 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel in San Francisco weighed whether the First Amendment allowed recipients of so-called "national security letters" to discuss them. Judge N.R. Smith, a George W. Bush nominee, asked whether the government should have a greater responsibility to lift the gag order on its own. That would ease the burden on telecom companies who currently have to go to court, he said. Douglas Letter, an attorney for the US Department of Justice, said the FBI does not have the resources to continuously review thousands of national security letters to determine if secrecy is still warranted. "The bureau would not be able to function," Letter said.