by KIM ZETTER
A government slide shows the internet companies who have been providing data under the government’s PRISM program. IMAGE/The Washington Post/Wired
Internet giants like Google and Yahoo received millions of dollars from the NSA to cover their surveillance under the PRISM program. These payments occurred after a federal court ruled that surveillance requests the companies handled under the PRISM program were unconstitutional.
The money was meant to cover expenses the companies incurred under court orders mandating the companies assist the NSA in its bulk collection of data, according to a top secret NSA newsletter leaked to the Guardian newspaper by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The document also shows the NSA was anxious to get certifications from the FISA Court to authorize surveillance beyond the possible expiration of the law that authorized that surveillance. The law was set to expire on December 31, 2012, but the NSA received authorizations under that law to continue its surveillance until September 23, 2013. As long as the certificate from the court was still valid, it would allow ongoing surveillance, the document explains, even if Congress failed to pass or delayed passage of an extension of the law.
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