THIS WEEK IN PRIVACY: Beware of the Donkey

Moments ago, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would grant legal immunity to the telecom companies who helped the Bush administration tap Americans’ telephones after 9/11. The bill marks a major victory for the telecoms lobby, and a major defeat for people with telephones. [via Guardian]

On Wednesday, an ‘Survival Guide’ for interns working for Congressman Don Young (who likely voted for the wiretapping bill) was leaked on the web. The document listed an ‘A-Team’ of lobbyists who received preferential treatment, including one with business connections to an ongoing corruption case against the Congressman. The Survival Guide also reveals that Young’s wife does not like cologne and says pumpkin seeds when she really means sunflower seeds. [via Talking Points Memo]

Los Angeles Judge Alex Kozinski declared a mistrial last Friday in an obscenity case against scatological porn producer Ira Isaacs. Kozinski had come under scrutiny after an irate litigant hacked into a private online storage space maintained by the Judge’s son and found a ‘bestiality video’ therein. The video, which is available on YouTube, shows a man going the bathroom in a field, and then being chased around by a donkey. [Via Lessig, via Fox]