Do you have, as I do, the feeling that no matter how scandalized we are by what is revealed, what is not revealed is far, far worse? All the way through the NSA "numbers only" scandal (Was that only last week? Is it already over?) I kept thinking "I bet they're getting full conversations- I bet they're listening in".
Bingo.
In an extraordinary report yesterday,
Wired News published statements from Mark Klein, former AT&T technician, which purport to show that AT&T has colluded with government intelligence agencies since at least 2002 to install surveillance systems which, Klein claims
".... enable the government to look at every individual message on the Internet and analyze exactly what people are doing
The San Francisco Chronicle today (CHAMPION OF CYBERSPACE FACES ITS BIGGEST CASE YET) reports that the Klein documents form the basis of a suit by the Electronic Freedom Foundation, which accuses AT&T of illegally turning over tens of millions of telephone and Internet records to the National Security Agency. These documents, and the EFF suit, lay claim that far from only acquiring information about originating number and destination of calls, surveillance of telephone and internet traffic is far broader than has been admitted. (Quelle surprise!)
Klein claims that the surveillance is performed by splitting of light beams from optic fiber cables: a process that provides total access to all traffic over that cable (while weakening the downstream signal, it must be said). While Klein's primary interest seems to be surveillance of internet traffic, the same system, can be used for telephone surveillance. He details an elaborate system, complete with hidden rooms at AT&T headquarters, to which access is denied to all except those "with NSA clearance". This is the soon-to-be-infamous "Room 641A at 611 Folsom Street, the site of a large SBC phone building, three floors of which are occupied by AT&T.
Indications that we may see a strenuous government response began on Sunday, when U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said that the federal government has the power to prosecute journalists and news organizations that publish such material. "There are some statutes on the book, which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility," Gonzales told ABC's "This Week." Others believe that publication by Wired News and others, provided documents were legally obtained (which WN says they were) is protected free speech
The suit faces a crucial test June 23, when a federal judge in San Francisco will hear dismissal motions by AT&T and the Bush administration which seeks dismissal of the case on the grounds that it would expose military secrets. California First Amendment Coalition executive director warned:.
"We are seeing an extraordinary degree of anxiety on the government's part about reporting based on leaks of confidential documents in the government's possession," Scheer said. "I think the Justice Department is about to take the gloves off in its pursuit of information the press has. And the press is about to lose its ability to use confidential sources."
Mark Klein himself (who deserves every award available for defense of freedom and democracy) warns of the breadth of participation by government agencies
Among the agencies participating or planning to participate in the INSCOM "testing" are the "National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, the DOD Counterintelligence Field Activity, the U.S. Strategic Command, the Special Operations Command, the Joint Forces Command and the Joint Warfare Analysis Center." There are also "discussions" going on to bring in "non-DOD federal agencies" such as the FBI.
"......This is the infrastructure for an Orwellian police state. It must be shut down!"
Fat chance, I am afraid. Carry on knocking at the door of 641A, but pray that the EFF suit is not dismissed.