November 9, 2007

AT&T Whistleblower Urges Senate to Reject Blanket Immunity for Telecoms

Earlier today, telecommunications technician and AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein explained at a press conference on Capitol Hill why he is asking lawmakers to reject immunity for telecoms that assisted the Bush administration's spying on millions of Americans.

Klein is visiting Washington this week, just as the Senate Judiciary Committee considers legislation granting telecom immunity, despite outrage from activists, editorial boards, and civil liberties groups across the nation. Telecom immunity is a blatant attempt to derail dozens of lawsuits accusing the telecoms of violating customers' rights by illegally assisting the National Security Agency (NSA) with domestic surveillance.

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 voice conversation and data transmission to a room controlled by the NSA. Klein has provided evidence for 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 was network systems and infrastructure expert Brian Reid, who explained how the infrastructure that Mr. Klein helped install likely fits into and facilitates the massive warrantless surveillance program.

Interviews with both Klein and Reid were featured in a PBS Frontline documentary called "Spying on the Home Front"

that covered cialis generica the NSA domestic spying program, among other surveillance efforts initiated by the government.

For more on EFF's case against AT&T:

http://www.eff.org/cases/att

To stream the Frontline documentary, "Spying on the Homefront," for free and without DRM: