A US district court judge has ruled that it is unconstitutional for the US government to send secret letters demanding search records from search engines. A provision of the Patriot Act has allowed for such letters to be sent to search engines, ISPs and others by the Federal Bureau Of Investigation -- and made it illegal for companies getting such FBI demands to even reveal the requests at all in general. Today's ruling found that violated free speech rights.

Judge deals blow to Patriot Act from News.com and Judge fails to see patriotic side of FBI gags on Net service providers from Good Morning Silicon Valley have good rundowns on the decision, which is expected to be appealed. It's not clear whether companies that received such demands can now reveal them or if they must wait until the case works through higher courts.

Click to continue reading...