[E-B] EFF: Secret Surveillance Evidence Unsealed in AT&T
Spying Case Reply-To: press@eff.org Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release For Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 Contact: Cindy Cohn Legal Director Electronic Frontier Foundation cindy@eff.org +1 415 436-9333 x108 (office), +1 415 307-2148 (cell) Kurt Opsahl Senior Staff Attorney Electronic Frontier Foundation kurt@eff.org +1 415 436-9333 x106 Secret Surveillance Evidence Unsealed in AT&T Spying Case Whistleblower Declaration and Other Key Documents Released to Public San Francisco - More documents detailing secret government surveillance of AT&T's Internet traffic have been released to the public as part of the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) class-action lawsuit against the telecom giant. Some of the unsealed information was previously made public in redacted form. But after negotiations with AT&T, EFF filed newly unredacted documents describing a secret, secure room in AT&T's facilities that gave the National Security Agency (NSA) direct access to customers' emails and other Internet communications. These include several internal AT&T documents that have long been available on media websites, EFF's legal arguments to the 9th Circuit, and the full declarations of whistleblower Mark Klein and of J. Scott Marcus, the former Senior Advisor for Internet Technology to the Federal Communications Commission, who bolsters and explains EFF's evidence. "This is critical evidence supporting our claim that AT&T is cooperating with the NSA in the illegal dragnet surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "This surveillance is under debate in Congress and across the nation, as well as in the courts. The public has a right to see these important documents, the declarations from our witnesses, and our legal arguments, and we are very pleased to release them." EFF filed the class-action suit against AT&T last year, accusing the telecom giant of illegally assisting in the NSA's spying on millions of ordinary Americans. The lower court allowed the case to proceed and the government has now asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss the case, claiming that the lawsuit could expose state secrets. EFF's newly released brief in response outlines how the case should go forward respecting both liberty and security. "The District Court rejected the government's attempt to sweep this case under the rug," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl. "This country has a long tradition of open court proceedings, and we're pleased that as we present our case to the Court of Appeals, the millions of affected AT&T customers will be able to see our arguments and evidence and judge for themselves." Oral arguments in the 9th Circuit appeal are set for the week of August 13. For the unredacted Klein declaration: http://eff.org/legal/cases/att/SER_klein_decl.pdf For the internal documents: http://eff.org/legal/cases/att/SER_klein_exhibits.pdf For the unredacted Marcus declaration: http://eff.org/legal/cases/att/SER_marcus_decl.pdf For EFF's 9th Circuit brief: http://eff.org/legal/cases/att/9thanswerbrief.pdf For more on the class-action lawsuit against AT&T: http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/ For this release: http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2007_06.php#005304 About EFF The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/ -end- _______________________________________________ presslist mailing list https://falcon.eff.org/mailman/listinfo/presslist ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE
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