|
Former AT&T technician Mark Klein is the key witness in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's class-action lawsuit against the telecommunications company, which alleges that AT&T cooperated in an illegal National Security Agency domestic surveillance program.
The Senate Judiciary Committee considers a bill to give AT&T IMMUNITY for spying on U.S. citizens. If AT&T didn't violate any laws while spying on U.S. citizens, WHY do they need immunity? Contact your U.S. Senators TODAY and ask them WHY? AT&T Whistleblower to Urge Senate to Reject Blanket Immunity for Telecoms Washington, D.C. - On Wednesday, November 7, at 10:30am, telecommunications technician and AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein will speak out at a press conference on Capitol Hill, explaining why he is asking lawmakers to reject immunity for telecoms who assisted the Bush administration's spying on millions of Americans. Klein witnessed first-hand the technology AT&T built to assist the government's domestic warrantless wiretapping program at AT&T's main switching facility in San Francisco. As part of his job at AT&T, Klein connected high-speed fiber optic cables to sophisticated equipment that intercepted communications from AT&T customers and then copied and routed every single one to a room controlled by the National Security Agency (NSA). Klein has provided evidence for the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) class-action lawsuit against AT&T for its role in the illegal spying. "My job required me to enable the physical connections between AT&T customers' Internet communications and the NSA's illegal, wholesale copying machine for domestic emails, Internet phone conversations, web surfing and all other Internet traffic. I have first-hand knowledge of the clandestine collaboration between one giant telecommunications company, AT&T, and the National Security Agency to facilitate the most comprehensive illegal domestic spying program in history," said Klein. Also speaking at the event Wednesday is network systems and infrastructure expert Brian Reid, who will explain how the infrastructure that Mr. Klein helped install likely fits into and facilitates the massive warrantless surveillance program. WHO: Mark Klein, former AT&T communications technician and domestic spying program whistleblower Brian Reid, network systems and infrastructure expert Cindy Cohn, Legal Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation Kevin Bankston, Staff Attorney, Electronic Frontier Foundation November 6th, 2007 Judge Orders Telecommunications Companies to Preserve Evidence in Government Surveillance Cases Ruling Advances EFF's Class-action Lawsuit Against AT&T San Francisco - A federal judge today ruled on a preservation motion filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), ordering that telecommunications companies must preserve any evidence of collaborating with the government in illegal spying on ordinary Americans. In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ordered the telecommunications companies to halt any routine destruction of documents or to arrange for the preservation of accurate copies. On December 14, each party must provide the court with confirmation that the court's order has been carried out. The court order did not require the government or the carriers to reveal whether or not they had any relevant evidence. The government and the carriers had opposed the preservation motion, claiming that the government's invocation of the state secrets privilege made it impossible to proceed with a preservation order. In litigation, parties are typically required to preserve all relevant evidence. |
