Wikipedia to Sue NSA Over Mass Surveillance 

Vocabulary 

Direction: Read each word and let the student repeat it.
file
[faɪl] (verb)
– (in this case) to initiate a legal action through proper formal procedure
ex.He has filed an official complaint accusing the company.

surveillance
[sɜːrˈveɪləns] (noun)
– the act of carefully watching a person suspected of a crime or a place where a crime may be committed
ex.The police are keeping the suspect under constant surveillance.

seizure
[ˈsiːʒə(r)] (noun)
– the action of taking something or taking control of something, especially using power or force
ex.I was not able to withdraw money because of the seizure of my bank account.

dragnet
[ˈdræɡnet] (noun)
– a thorough search, especially for a criminal
ex.Five suspects were arrested following the police dragnet.

fallout
[ˈfɔːlaʊt] (noun)
– the bad results of a situation or an action
ex.The political fallout of last week’s crisis has left the country in chaos.

Article 

Direction: Read each paragraph and let the student repeat it.

Wikipedia to Sue NSA Over Mass Surveillance

Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization that runs free online encyclopedia Wikipedia, will file a lawsuit against the National Security Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice, challenging the government’s mass surveillance program.

The lawsuit, to be filed Tuesday, alleges that the NSA’s mass surveillance of Internet traffic in the United States — often called Upstream surveillance — violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and association, and the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure.

The NSA’s Upstream surveillance program captures communications with “non-U.S. persons” in order to acquire foreign intelligence information.

“By tapping the backbone of the internet, the NSA is straining the backbone of democracy,” Lila Tretikov, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation wrote in a blog post on its website.

‘Intellectual freedom’ threatened

“Wikipedia is founded on the freedoms of expression, inquiry, and information. By violating our users’ privacy, the NSA is threatening the intellectual freedom that is central to people’s ability to create and understand knowledge,” its statement said.

The NSA’s current practices exceed the authority granted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that Congress amended in 2008, Wikimedia said.

“We are asking the court to order an end to the NSA’s dragnet surveillance of Internet traffic,” Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times.

Wikimedia and eight other organizations filing the lawsuit, including the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International USA, will be represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Major U.S. technology companies suffering from the fallout of NSA’s mass surveillance programs are uniting to shore up their defenses against government intrusion.

The NSA and the DoJ were not immediately available for comment.

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Questions 

Direction: Ask the students the questions, and give the answers.

1Why is Wikimedia Foundation filing a lawsuit against the NSA?

It is “challenging the government’s mass surveillance program.”

2What laws is the NSA accused of violating?

“The U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and association, and the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure.”

3What is the NSA accused of threatening?

“The NSA is threatening the intellectual freedom that is central to people’s ability to create and understand knowledge.”

4How many organizations are filing this lawsuit?

9. “Wikimedia and eight other organizations [are] filing the lawsuit.”

Discussion 

Direction: Discuss the topics.

1Do you agree with the NSA’s mass surveillance program? Why or why not?

Follow-up question1: Do you think that Internet activity should be closely monitored? Why or why not?
Follow-up question2: Can the Internet be used for illegal activities? Why or why not?
Follow-up question3: Are online crimes common in your country? Why or why not?

2Why is the Internet so important?

Follow-up question1: In what ways has the Internet changed your life?
Follow-up question2: Do you think that the Internet will ever disappear?
Follow-up question3: What are the best and worst things about the Internet?

3Is the Internet widely available in your country?

Follow-up question1: Do you think that access to the Internet should be free all around the world?
Follow-up question2: Do you agree that the Internet has become the “world’s largest billboard”? Why or why not?
Follow-up question3: How often do you use the Internet?

Quoted from

http://www.voanews.com/content/wikipedia-to-sue-nsa-over-mass-surveillance/2674268.html