The Channel Wire

September 19, 2008

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit Friday against the National Security Agency (NSA) on behalf of AT&T customers, alleging the government agency has been illegally monitoring individuals' Internet and phone communications.

According to the EFF, evidence in the case includes documents provided by a former AT&T telecommunications technician claiming that AT&T has routed copies of Internet traffic to a "secret room" in San Francisco controlled by the NSA.

In the complaint, the EFF states: "In addition to eavesdropping on or reading specific communications, defendants have indiscriminately intercepted the communications content and obtained the communications records of millions of ordinary Americans as part of the Program authorized by the President."

This is the second such suit in which the group is involved. In 2006, the EFF filed a class-action suit against AT&T, which was aimed at stopping the telco from participating in the domestic spying program. This summer, Congress passed a law granting immunity to AT&T. However, the case has stalled in federal court as EFF contends that the immunity is unconstitutional.

This new lawsuit not only sues the NSA, but also President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

In a statement, EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn said, "Demanding personal accountability from President Bush, Vice President Cheney and others responsible for the NSA's dragnet surveillance of ordinary Americans' communications is the best way to guarantee that such blatantly illegal spying will not be authorized in the future."