[Infowarrior] - Secret Surveillance Evidence Unsealed in AT&T Spying Case

[Richard Forno]

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Contact:

Cindy Cohn Legal Director Electronic Frontier Foundation cindy at eff.org +1
415 436-9333 x108 (office), +1 415 307-2148 (cell)

Kurt Opsahl Senior Staff Attorney Electronic Frontier Foundation
kurt at 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/