Following a second day of testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce concerning the activities of internet data brokers involved in the pretextual collection and resale of private phone records, a representative from the FBI declared that the actions of these brokers "probably act illegal." This despite the fact that the FBI has recently been outed as a customer of these same types of brokers. Some might call this a government end-run around the fourth amendment. Others might simply find it to be hypocrisy.

All this, of course, is bad news for responsible investigators everywhere.

-- MDT