You are being spied upon.

The FISA cloture vote is coming in the next few hours.

Has everyone made calls to their Senators and those on the list?  Here is the link for the FP diary about Chris Dodd's heroic speech and the phone numbers to call to stop this Stasi-like bill from becoming law.

But I want to also talk about another aspect of the massive spying operation that I have not seen many people discuss, whether online or otherwise.  And it has to do with how many of the most utilized email and ISP providers have organized the transmission and delivery of email for their customers.

Follow me on the flip for a brief description...

Ordinarily, you have very little information about where your email goes after you send it.  It can get bounced around to a number of different servers before it ends up in your addressee's inbox.

Yes this happens in an instant, but where your email goes is actually quite significant for the purposes of the powers Bush&Co. are seeking under the new FISA bill.

Based on my conversations with U.S. citizens residing in our country who have used software and other means to track where there email went and who looked at it, I believe that the illegal program implemented by the NSA with the aid of large companies like AT&T and others actually ENSURED that certain people's emails were sent to overseas locations and routed through servers there SO THAT a case could be made that these were "foreign" communications.

This information pertains to one of the most utilized email clients in this country, and stems from a business relationship and merger that pre-dates the re-emergence of AT&T as a telephone and data technology provider.  

I cannot go into more detail at this time, but I thought this was important information to share as we confront this assault on our privacy and our Constitution.

PLEASE MAKE YOUR CALLS!!  IT IS CRITICAL THAT WE STOP THIS BILL!!

•  Interesting. I'm not very techie

  but I have a simple program that watches where email comes and goes from (it's part of McAfee's hacker watch). I've seen stuff flit from California to Africa and Europe before landing on my very own desktop. So I don't doubt what you say. Question for you. Why the "stasi" tag?

  by Lisa Lockwood on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 10:39:59 AM PDT

  •  Stasi, Lives of Others, Government Spying

    Stasi as you probably know was the government spying and enforcement apparatus set up in the former East Germany during the Cold War.  It was depicted in the recent film "The Lives of Others", which I highly recommend watching if you haven't seen already.  

    I believe that the NSA is becoming, if it hasn't already, a Stasi-type apparatus, used to collect information on Americans for political purposes.  It needs to be shut down.

    So, I use the term to remind us all of what is at stake....our privacy, our liberty, our Constitution, our democracy...our lives.

    by maxschell on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 11:03:30 AM PDT

•  Of course.

  Lets see....

  1.  I'm married to a foreigner;

  2. I work for an environmental group;

  3. I email regularly with a good friend in Morrocco;

  4. I lead a prominate fight to stop oil and gas development on public lands....

  5.  I'm active in the Dem Party....

  Of course I'm being spied upon.

  Please remove "Stasi" and "The Lives of Others" from your tags.  Lives was an incredible movie but those dont make sense in your tags.

  by environmentalist on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 10:44:43 AM PDT

  •  See above.

    I believe they do make sense for the reasons stated above.  If you believe you are being spied upon for your political activities, surely you must see the relationship?

    by maxschell on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 11:04:54 AM PDT

•  I know I'm being spied upon.

  After all, I signed the document authorizing it.

  by Moody Loner on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 10:46:37 AM PDT

•  Raises an interesting larger question

  as well.  It is routine for non-domestic servers to be "hit".  Think of it economically - where is space and labor to maintain that space cheaper?  The US, or, for example, India?  As bandwidth and speed has increased, actual location is less important.  Economies of scale can be realized.

  So if ALL of AT&T's internet traffic, for example, is routed through Mumbai India, are they "foreign"?  I don't know the answer, and only tangentially know the industry - but that occurred to me.

  by RenaRF on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 10:46:53 AM PDT

  •  The Bush admin will argue, YES of course

    if they are ever held accountable that is - and they'll claim that it's impossible to identify a possible communication that starts and ends up in America. Therefore, they had to intercept all of it that went through Mumbai (in this case).

    by minorityusa on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 11:01:29 AM PDT

    •  Exactly.

      This is the predicate for the basket warrants section of the FISA bill and codifies/sanctions what they are currently doing.

      by maxschell on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 11:06:30 AM PDT

  •  Predicate for the "basket warrant"

    This will enable them to store and "mine" it all.

    And so, "basket warrant" will very quickly mean "no warrant necessary."

    by maxschell on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 11:08:24 AM PDT

•  We are probably all being read. And if not

  in e-mail form certainly through the google. There your words are stored for ?.

  by Owllwoman on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 10:47:25 AM PDT

  •  makes me kinda feel sorry for those NSA guys

    ... having to wade through all those candidate diaries and all....

    by Jeffersonian Democrat on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 10:53:50 AM PDT

•  It's not just paranoia

  I'm sure I've been a target for years.....
   - former member of the SDS
   - activist in several environmental groups
   - activist in union strikes and negotiations
   - instructor at a very liberal university
   - continued arguments with the IRS
   - anti-war activist

  Big Brother IS watching.

  by moose67 on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 11:01:11 AM PDT

  •  Who loves ya baby! :) n/t

    by maxschell on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 11:09:26 AM PDT

  •  I must confess, I have a fear

    I'm really afraid that someday the lists and the new and improved "red files" will be unveiled...

    ...and my name won't be on them. That would be the most unkindest cut of all.

    by dconrad on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 02:31:05 PM PDT

•  Watergate 2

  Perhaps Telecom immunity shuts the door on the fact that some of the domestic spying was on Democratic political campaigns.  In which case Dems who vote to pass Bushco's version of FISA are protecting the GOP from what it did to their own party under cover of "homeland security."

  Odds are we'll never know for sure -- or won't know until all the guilty parties are long dead.

  by Alvin K on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 11:03:24 AM PDT

•  Yes, they're watching my email

  and they're seeing what I'm supposed to pick up at the grocery store on the way home. They are also seeing cute pictures being sent to Grandparents, and of course many offers for viagra.  

  by Hello hello ello on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 11:04:44 AM PDT

  •  Yep.

    Don't forget your bank transactions!

    by maxschell on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 11:10:42 AM PDT

    •  Wouldn't want them to see

      how much I spent at the grocery store.
      But something tells me it is not me they're after, so I'm not concerned. I don't give money to terrorists and I don't send my kids to remote parts of Pakistan for cultural training. Let 'em read my email. What do I care?

      by Hello hello ello on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 11:22:12 AM PDT

      •  Some reasons to care.

        Err...history provides ample evidence of the dangers of having the government reading your private communications.  

        In fact, it is one of the reasons I posted the keywords "Stasi" and "Lives of Others" for this diary.  To remind people why this is important.  It is not just the "terrorists" who are getting their emails read.  Communications are being intercepted for political purposes.  And that is what went on in East Germany under that totaletarian regime.

        You might also be persuaded to oppose this legislation by the number of your fellow Americans who have given up their lives for our Constitution.  Unrestrained and unwarranted government spying is clearly contrary to the Constitution and our Founding Fathers intent.  

        by maxschell on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 11:33:36 AM PDT

        •  Sorry - my bad.

          I thought this article was about about America - not Eastern Germany during the Cold War.
          I haven't seen "Lives of Others" but it sounds like a good movie. I'll have to rent it. Speaking of good movies, have you seen Brazil or Conspiracy Theory?

          by Hello hello ello on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 12:27:16 PM PDT

          •  This is about America, not Eastern Germany

            Let's keep it that way, what do you say?

            Brazil, by the way, is an excellent movie.

            by dconrad on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 02:28:23 PM PDT

            •  Thanks,

              I didn't citing fictional films was valid sourcing.

              by Hello hello ello on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 06:14:00 PM PDT

              •  I'm not sure I understand

                I'm not the one who brought up any movies, I only agreed with you, as an aside, that Brazil is a good movie.

                by dconrad on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 08:59:06 PM PDT

      •  Here's why you care:

        Does the Gov. actually want to read the email of some newly registered right winger trolling on DailyKos? Nope.

        But how do you think they would like to read the email of Barack Obama's campaign headquarters? Or Hillary Clinton's HQ? How about President Hillary being able to read McCain's, Jeb Bush's, and the RNC's?

        How about the CIA being able to read the email of Northrop-Grumman and sell it under the table to Lockheed-Martin?

        Are you starting to get the picture yet?

        Terrorists can't destroy the United States. Only we can do that.

        by dconrad on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 02:25:30 PM PDT

•   I spy ,you spy ,we spy together

  Most cellphone and  Telcom do have the ability   too spy on you using the "Lawful Intercept Gateway" but they do know who own the Sim Card in some phone ,because some Sim Card can be switched between  phones, i got this book from the library it give all the imformation about cellphone technology,Lots of these   Telcom do not want these lawsuit laying out thier ,because they are afraid that people will extract justice for all  that lousy cellphone services and contract ,go to yahoo and search  "Lawful  Intercept Gateway"

  by supremeliberal on Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 11:27:56 AM PDT