This is long overdue. The law, as it stands now, draws strange and arbitrary distinctions between certain types of communications and affords protection only to certain things. It needs an update.
Yes, one of the things that matters is how long the email has been stored. The law appears to think that we have less of an interest in the privacy of old emails than we do in new ones for some reason.
Actually, no. The U.S. version of Super Mario Brothers 2 came out in 1988. (At that time, Japan had a "Super Mario Brothers 2" that was completely different, but it's just not relevant to to the article).
As for the REAL issues, I wholeheartedly support it.
EFF is great and I would encourage anyone to donate/join. If you get a chance to attend, they frequently speak at the DefCon conference in Las Vegas, NV (http://www.defcon.org) and field digital rights questions.
They also produce useful info for anyone concerned with digital privacy like the "Surveillance Self-Defense Project". If nothing else, it's gives some perspective on the complicated legal state of data security and communications.
What's also needed here is some direct heat applied to the Republican Party, which deliberately politicized this area of policy after 9/11 to force the Patriot Act through and has steadfastly protected it since, labeling all opposition to it as un-American, unpatriotic, and similar bullshit.
Until it is made politically dangerous to do things like this, you can bet that those folks will continue on the same path.
