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Delivered-To: clips@philodox.com
Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2006 11:59:43 -0400
To: Philodox Clips List
From Spam Daily News
NEWS
EFF: AT&T forwards all Internet traffic into NSA
Posted on April 07, 2006
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on Wednesday filed the legal
briefs and evidence supporting its motion for a preliminary injunction in
its class-action lawsuit against AT&T.
After asking EFF to hold back the documents so that it could review them,
the Department of Justice consented to EFF's filing them under seal -- a
well-established procedure that prohibits public access and permits only
the judge and the litigants to see the evidence.
While not a party to the case, the government was concerned that even this
procedure would not provide sufficient security and has represented to the
Court that it is "presently considering whether and, if so, how it will
participate in this case."
"The evidence that we are filing supports our claim that AT&T is diverting
Internet traffic into the hands of the NSA wholesale, in violation of
federal wiretapping laws and the Fourth Amendment," said EFF Staff Attorney
Kevin Bankston.
"More than just threatening individuals' privacy, AT&T's apparent choice to
give the government secret, direct access to millions of ordinary
Americans' Internet communications is a threat to the Constitution itself.
We are asking the Court to put a stop to it now," said Bankston.
EFF's evidence regarding AT&T's dragnet surveillance of its networks
includes a declaration by Mark Klein, a retired AT&T telecommunications
technician, and several internal AT&T documents. This evidence was
bolstered and explained by the expert opinion of J. Scott Marcus, who
served as Senior Technical Advisor for Internet Technology to the Federal
Communications Commission from July 2001 until July 2005.
The internal AT&T documents and portions of the supporting declarations
have been submitted to the Court under a tentative seal, a procedure that
allows AT&T five court days to explain to the Court why the information
should be kept from the public.
"The public deserves to know about AT&T's illegal program," said EFF Legal
Director Cindy Cohn. "In an abundance of caution, we are providing AT&T
with an opportunity to explain itself before this material goes on the
public docket, but we believe that justice will ultimately require full
disclosure."
The NSA program came to light in December, when the New York Times reported
that the President had authorized the agency to intercept telephone and
Internet communications inside the United States without the authorization
of any court.
"Mark Klein is a true American hero," said EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl.
"He has bravely come forward with information critical for proving AT&T's
involvement with the government's invasive surveillance program."
In the lawsuit, EFF is representing the class of all AT&T residential
customers nationwide. Working with EFF in the lawsuit are the law firms
Traber & Voorhees, Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP and
the Law Office of Richard R. Wiebe.
RELATED:
AT&T sued over NSA eavesdropping
SOURCE: The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
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R. A. Hettinga