Thursday, February 22, 2007

AT&T Whistleblower Wins Award. AT&T Whistleblower Wins Award. Whistleblower Mark Klein will get some well-deserved acknowledgement when he receives a James Madison Freedom of Information Award next month. The award could hardly find a more deserving recipient [~] Klein is the former AT&T technician who exposed the extent of the government's warrantless wiretapping program In early 2006, Klein came forward with internal AT&T documents that show the company cooperated with the NSA's secret program to eavesdrop on internet communications, in violation of federal wiretapping laws and the Fourth Amendment. Klein's evidence demonstrates that in at least one of AT&T's facilities, internet traffic was diverted to a secret, secure room to which only the NSA had access. All of the documents have been used in EFF's court case, which is currently under review by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and a portion have been made broadly available on the internet since April, 2006. In the words of EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl, Klein is [base "]a true American hero.[per thou] This public recognition of his bravery in defense of the public's right to know is richly deserved. [EFF: Deep Links] 11:28:40 AM

Judge Refuses to Release Critical Documents in AT&T Surveillance Case. Judge Refuses to Release Critical Documents in AT&T Surveillance Case. Klein Declaration and Other Internal Documents to Stay Sealed for Now San Francisco - A federal judge in San Francisco today denied requests from media groups to unseal critical evidence in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) class-action lawsuit against AT&T. EFF's suit accuses the telecom giant of collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in illegal spying on millions of ordinary Americans. The sealed evidence includes a declaration by Mark Klein, a retired AT&T telecommunications technician, as well as several internal AT&T documents and portions of a declaration from EFF's expert witness. Some of the evidence was previously released in redacted form, while other evidence is still completely unavailable to the media and the public. "We're disappointed that the court did not choose to unseal all of the documents that include or refer to the evidence presented by Mark Klein and our expert, J. Scott Marcus. The government has already agreed that the evidence is neither classified nor a state secret, and is only being held under seal because of AT&T's weak trade secrecy claims," said Cindy Cohn, EFF's Legal Director. "Given that the privacy of millions of Americans is at stake, we strongly believe that the public would benefit from seeing this evidence for themselves." Today's order is in response to a December hearing on the sealing issue. U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker granted the media groups' request to intervene in the case, and said that he might revisit the unsealing motion at a later date. For Judge Walker's full order: http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/order_media_unsealing.pdf For more on EFF's case against AT&T: http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/ Contacts: Cindy Cohn Legal Director Electronic Frontier Foundation cindy@eff.org Rebecca Jeschke Media Coordinator Electronic Frontier Foundation press@eff.org [EFF: Breaking News] 10:56:51 AM

Judge Denies Complete Stay in AT&T Surveillance Case. Judge Denies Complete Stay in AT&T Surveillance Case. Government and AT&T Cannot Freeze Proceedings During Appeal San Francisco - A federal judge today ruled that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) can go forward with elements of its class action lawsuit against AT&T for collaborating with the government on illegal spying in ordinary Americans -- despite the government and AT&T's request to freeze proceedings during an appeal. In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker opened the door to beginning the discovery process, allowing EFF to ask "limited and targeted" questions as long as those questions do not overlap with the issues under consideration in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "The government wanted to put this case in the deep freeze," said EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl. "Instead, the court has invited us to move forward with some targeted questions. We're glad to accept that invitation, which will allow progress while respecting the government's national security concerns." Judge Walker also refused to implement a blanket stay on the other telecommunications surveillance cases transferred to his court. He ruled that unless the parties stipulate to a stay, then "defendants will answer or otherwise respond to the complaint" by March 29. Earlier today, Judge Walker denied requests from media groups to unseal critical evidence in the AT&T case. "We're disappointed that the court did not choose to unseal all of the documents that include or refer to the evidence presented by Mark Klein and our expert, J. Scott Marcus. The government has already agreed that the evidence is neither classified nor a state secret, and is only being held under seal because of AT&T's weak trade secrecy claims," said Cindy Cohn, EFF's Legal Director. "Given that the privacy of millions of Americans is at stake, we strongly believe that the public would benefit from seeing this evidence for themselves." Judge Walker did grant the media groups' request to intervene, and said he might revisit the unsealing issue at a later date. For Judge Walker's full order: http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/stayorder220.pdf For more on EFF's case against AT&T: http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/ Contacts: Kurt Opsahl Staff Attorney Electronic Frontier Foundation kurt@eff.org Rebecca Jeschke Media Coordinator Electronic Frontier Foundation press@eff.org [EFF: Breaking News] 10:55:14 AM

© Copyright 2007 Paul Hardwick. Last update: 3/4/07; 11:47:25 AM.