EFF Moving to Uncover Telco Immunity Lobbying:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Wednesday, alleging the agency is dragging its feet on producing documents the group requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

The group is asking a federal court to force Director Mike McConnell's office to expeditiously produce documents 'concerning briefings, discussions, or other exchanges' McConnell and other agency officials have had with telcos regarding 'immunizing telecommunications companies or holding them otherwise unaccountable for their role in government surveillance activities.'

The lawsuit (.pdf), filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, comes as lawmakers are considering granting telcos immunity for participating in the government's spy program. The EFF is suing AT&T on allegations it unlawfully granted the Bush administration access to its customers' communications.

The EFF requested the documents August 31.

In an Aug. 22 interview with the El Paso Times, McConnell acknowledged for the first time that telecommunications companies were assisting the Bush administration's spy program. For more than a year, the government refused to confirm or deny any spying relationship with the telcos.

McConnell said the industry needed immunity because the cases 'would bankrupt these companies.'

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(Read Original Article - Via Threat Level.)