EFF Files Evidence in Motion to Stop AT and T's Dragnet Surveillance

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Thursday, April 06, 2006

Contact:

Derek Slater
  Acting Media Coordinator
  Electronic Frontier Foundation
  derek@eff.org
  +1 415 436-9333 x128

For Mark Klein:
  Miles Ehrlich, Esq.
  Ramsey & Ehrlich
  miles@ramsey-ehrlich.com
  +1 510 548-3600

EFF Files Evidence in Motion to Stop AT&T's Dragnet 
Surveillance 

Internal AT&T Documents Had Been Temporarily Held Back Due 
To Government's Concerns 

San Francisco - 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." 

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.  Over the ensuing weeks, it became clear that the 
NSA program has been intercepting and analyzing millions of 
Americans' communications, with the help of the country's 
largest phone and Internet companies, including AT&T. 

"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. 

For the notice of motion for preliminary injunction: 
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/NotMot.pdf 

For the motion to lodge under temporary seal:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/MotionReSealing.pdf 

For more on EFF's suit:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/ 

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_04.php#004538

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-

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