Deciding a lawsuit brought by the ACLU, a federal judge in New York last week ruled that the National Security Administration’s mass collection of telephone data is a necessary response to terrorism and does not violate the U.S. Constitution. So reports the Los Angeles Times.

While differences over the Affordable Care Act may have caused this month's government shutdown, the shutdown didn't stop the rollout of Obamacare. That’s because money designated for the launch was approved in a previous session of Congress and didn't have to be approved again. So reports CNN.com.

Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC, which does business as Macmillan, has agreed to, among other things, immediately lift its restrictions on discounts by e-book retailers.