At&t NSA case

www.eetimes.com...

A class action lawsuit, alleging that AT&T improperly cooperated with the National Security Agency's surveillance program, will proceed with restrictions while the government appeals to a higher court.

I saw this story on 60 minutes this week. The interviewed the former at&t employee who got the goods on the story. The employee was an at&t tech who has since retired.
www.democracynow.org.../03/07/1436219

A whistleblower who helped reveal government spying on the internet has discovered the Los Angeles Times aborted breaking the story at the request of the Bush administration. The whisteblower, Mark Klein, is a former technician at AT&T. Last year, Klein revealed the National Security Agency had set up secret spy rooms in several AT&T offices. In an interview with ABC News, Klein says he worked with am L.A. Times reporter for two months to reveal the secret program. But Klein says editors killed the story at the request of then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte and then-NSA director General Michael Hayden. He then went to the New York Times.

I can't find the 60 minutes video online. I can't believe the mainstream media reported this.

I guess it's up to the rival networks to pick the story up from where it was dropped now.

It is interesting that it made it this far with mainstream media. Though, I'm not at all suprised that they caved to the governments requests to stop the report.

It's rediculous when the government can interfere with media broadcasts. Especially when they are reporting on the very thing the government is guilty of.

I agree that if the information were a threat to national security, then ok, stop the broadcast and release a censored version of it... but the knowlege that AT&T is giving out their recorded conversations to the NSA is not exactly a security breaching topic... the conversations themselves could be security breaching, but not the fact that the US has them.

It wouldn't be so bad even, if the US just came out and admitted to it's citizens that "Yes, we are in partnership with AT&T to listen in on you."
Instead they try to trick their citizens into believing that they arent.

I couldn't find anything from 60 Minutes, but here's an 8 minute clip from ABC's NightLine interview with Mark Klein.



This was first covered on ATS in early 2006:

ATS: AT&T Narus Collaboration Sent Your Private Internet Communications to The NSA

Check if NSA warrantless surveillance is looking at your IP traffic

It's rediculous when the government can interfere with media broadcasts. Especially when they are reporting on the very thing the government is guilty of.

I agree.

What ever happened to the 1st Amendment, freedom of the press?

I, and everyone else (well, a lot of others anyway), are aware of the ongoings of the Government. We know the truth, and we will hold those accountable. Even if that is a difficult uphill battle.

An update....

www.timesargus.com.../20070315/NEWS02/703150338/1003/NEWS02

MONTPELIER – Vermont regulators are in a "wait and see" mode in the eight-month-old investigation into allegations that two telephone companies improperly gave the federal government access to customer information.

Last month, that case was joined with others – including individual consumer suits against the telephone companies and the government's suits against other states seeking to block their inquires – into a multi-district case before a federal court in California

AT&T and Verizon have issued carefully worded denials of the original news story concerning their alleged participation in the NSA program, and federal officials have argued in court that the suits and investigations should not go forward due to national security concerns.

and here....

www.mercurynews.com...

SAN FRANCISCO - The federal government is urging an appeals court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging President Bush's domestic eavesdropping program, warning that disclosure of such activities could compromise national security.

And what I find VERY disturbing is this....

"The suit's very subject matter - including the relationship, if any, between AT&T and the government in connection with the secret intelligence activities alleged by plaintiffs - is a state secret," the Justice Department argued in court papers.

A state secret that the govt is in with AT&T? How can the be a state secret?

The NSA had conducted the surveillance without a court warrant until January, when the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court began overseeing the program.

That is alot of time with no oversight.

[edit on 25/3/2007 by shooterbrody]

It's rediculous when the government can interfere with media broadcasts. Especially when they are reporting on the very thing the government is guilty of.

Isn't that called "State Controlled Media"???

I am very disappointed in the mainstream media coverage of this and other "wiretapping" cases.
As usual the bush admin will hide behind "national security" in order to keep this out of court and out of the media.