It is very good news but I'm not sure it actually does much.

The library objected, and after an apparently lengthy period a judge said that they could not be prevented from revealing that they had received an order to provide information. The article does not say specifically whether they were relieved of the requirement to provide the information demanded, and no citation is given to the case or the decision. The implication is that they filed suite only to contest the "gag order," as a preliminary to perhaps being able to protest the demand for information (that they possibly didn't have to begin with.) It appears that they did not provide any information, but it's not clear whether the ruling permitted them to do that(?).

The Government's appeal of the unknown judge's order was abandoned after the "law" was changed to require (subject to renewal) the gag order on such demands to expire after a year. By the time the appeal was abandoned more than a year had, or would have before an appeal could be heard, elapsed.

It appears, pending finding the original order by the judge who made the ruling that was appealed, that the FBI still remains free to demand information from libraries and to demand that they not reveal that the information was demanded and/or given, all without a court order or warrant.

Within the jurisdiction of the Court that heard the first contest of the gag order additional parts of this may or may not be limited; but that's unknown (to me at least) from what's here.

What these librarians accomplished is IMMENSE, but I believe that the hairy dirty big-brother beast still lurks somewhere in all our homes, crapping in unknown places, stealing our food from the refrigerator while we sleep, going through our personal things when we're not looking, and fully believing that we don't know he's there.

To large extent, we don't know exactly where all the beast is, but the smell of his presence permeates an awful lot of places.

John