(Wikimedia Commons)

In an open letter to Barack Obama and Congress on Monday, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Twitter, and AOL issued their most concerted response yet to disclosures by the National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, calling for radical reforms, some already proposed by Washington politicians. 

"While the undersigned companies understand that governments need to take action to protect their citizens’ safety and security, we strongly believe that current laws and practices need to be reformed," the letter states. 

The letter contains a separate list of five “reform principles” signed by the companies, marking the first time the companies have come together with such wide-ranging criticism of the underlying policy. 

The industry's lobbying power has been growing in Washington, whose founders and executives are highly sought as political donors, making them a strong interest group in Washington. 

Read more at The New York Times. 

Reach Executive Producer Syuzanna Petrosyan here. Follow her on Twitter.