Big Brother Is Watching NOW You On The Internet

Posted by: "John Perna" savefreedom2o05@... savefreedom2o05
Wed Mar 7, 2007 7:17 am (PST)

Big Brother Is Watching NOW You On The Internet

GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE OF INTERNET TRAFFIC by AT&T and National
Security Agency

This is the web link for ABC's nightline story.
Copy this article, and save it before it disappears!

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/03/whistleblower_h.html

If this link disappears look here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreedomOfSpeechNow/message/197

The day of George Orwell's "telescreen" has finally arrived.
Big Brother Is Watching NOW You On The Internet

ABC just ran a story of whistleblower, Mark Klein, AT&T technician,
regarding GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE OF INTERNET TRAFFIC by AT&T and
National Security Agency.

At a San Francisco switching center Mr. Klein collected over 120 pages
of technical documents showing how NSA installed splitters which would
allow of both domestic and international internet communications to be
copied.

Mr. Klein's story by (LA Times reporter, Joe Menn,) was killed at the
request of National Intelligence Director John Negroponte and NSA
Director Gen. Michael Hayden

The New York Times did publish it, and Newline ran it on March 6th.

------------
Whistle-blower Had to Fight NSA, LA Times to Tell Story March 06, 2007
10:53 AM
Brian Ross and Vic Walter Report:
Whistle-blower AT&T technician Mark Klein says his effort to reveal
alleged government surveillance of domestic Internet traffic was
blocked not only by U.S. intelligence officials but also by the top
editors of the Los Angeles Times.
In his first broadcast interview, which can be seen tonight on World
News and Nightline, Klein describes how he stumbled across "secret NSA
rooms" being installed at an AT&T switching center in San Francisco
and later heard of similar rooms in at least six other cities,
including Atlanta, San Diego, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, San Jose and
Seattle.
"You needed an ordinary key and the code to punch into a key pad on
the door, and the only person who had both of those things was the one
guy cleared by the NSA," Klein says of the "secret room" at the AT&T
center in San Francisco.
The NSA is the National Security Agency, the country's most secretive
intelligence agency, charged with intercepting communications overseas.
Klein says he collected 120 pages of technical documents left around
the San Francisco office showing how the NSA was
installing "splitters" that would allow it to copy both domestic and
international Internet traffic moving through AT&T connections with 16
other trunk lines.
"It's gobs and gobs of information going across the Internet," Klein
says.
President Bush has acknowledged he authorized the NSA to intercept the
communications of people with known links to terrorist
organizations "into or out of the United States," but that "we're not
trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans."
Intelligence experts say the NSA has the means to filter out suspect
communications with sophisticated machines that spot key words, names,
addresses or patterns.
Eventually, Klein says he decided to take his documents to the Los
Angeles Times, to blow the whistle on what he calls "an illegal and
Orwellian project."
But after working for two months with LA Times reporter Joe Menn,
Klein says he was told the story had been killed at the request of
then-Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte and then-
director of the NSA Gen. Michael Hayden.
The Los Angeles Times' decision was made by the paper's editor at the
time, Dean Baquet, now the Washington bureau chief of The New York
Times.
Baquet confirmed to ABCNews.com he talked with Negroponte and Hayden
but says "government pressure played no role in my decision not to run
the story."
Baquet says he and managing editor Doug Frantz decided "we did not
have a story, that we could not figure out what was going on" based on
Klein's highly technical documents.
The reporter, Menn, declined to comment, but Baquet says he knows "Joe
disagreed and was very disappointed."
Klein says he then took his AT&T documents to The New York Times,
which published its exclusive account last April.
Click here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/29/us/29nsa.html?
ei=5088&en=e5ab04af3266d144&ex=1303963200&partner=rssn
As the new Washington bureau chief of The New York Times, Baquet now
oversees the reporters who have broken most of the major stories
involving the government surveillance program, often over objections
from the government.
After The New York Times story appeared, Klein filed an affidavit in a
lawsuit against AT&T brought by a civil liberties group, Electronic
Frontier Foundation.
The NSA says it will not confirm or deny the existence or the purpose
of the "secret rooms," but in a filing in the court case against AT&T,
Negroponte formally invoked the "state secrets privilege," claiming
the lawsuit and the information from Klein and others could "cause
exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the United
States."
Klein says what he knows won't help terrorists.
"The only people that are being kept in the dark is the American
people who are being misled and not realizing, not being told that
their private information, that their liberties are being destroyed
and tramped on," he said.

» Click Here for More of the Brian Ross Page
March 6, 2007 in NSA: Wiretapping | Permalink | User Comments (73)
User Comments
My quote...Fascism is like a fog that comes in the night which you
will not see until the light of morning, at which time you will have
no idea of its duration.
ERGO
Posted by: daddy | Mar 6, 2007 11:19:12 AM
This guy sounds like another case os somebody sticking their nose
where it doesn't belong. I serioulsy doubt that 120 pages of documents
outlining the methodology of a top secret government operation were
just "left around" the office. Maybe he needs a good IRS audit or
two.... or three.....
Posted by: Jeff | Mar 6, 2007 11:49:45 AM
Will the U.S.Government now pay him WHISTLE BLOWER MONEY?seems that
the people in Government can't tell anyone what there illegal plan is
SO they run over us lie to us FOR WHAT!
SPENDING RIGHTS TO OUR TAX MONEY!
Posted by: Releafer | Mar 6, 2007 11:51:02 AM
Osama bin Laden hides in plain site dressed in the traditional garb of
muslum women. It is likely he is in site of US troops. He is a coward
hiding behind a womens skirt.
Posted by: terri cicatello | Mar 6, 2007 12:24:26 PM
So the media is now responsible for the cover up of information.
Call it Un-News.
Interesting... I guess there's a first time for everything, eh?
And now Dean Baquet is bringing the work ethic to the NYT. I never
wudda thunk it.
======================
"Those that don't read the news are un-informed. Those that do read
the news, are mis-informed"
... Mark Twain
Posted by: JelloBiafra | Mar 6, 2007 12:29:05 PM
I can understand if the information was on Americans who are innocent
of any wrong doing. But Mr. Klein has more of a personnel desire to
release this information based on need to for public recognition and
self indulgence. Gentleman, we are in a state of War, Mr. Klein in his
hate of the Government and the President found himself right in his
own mind to release this secrect information. He claims this does the
enemy no good. What makes him so smart in the dealings on National
Security. Where did he serve as in Intelligence officer in our
government? I quote a long standing thought, "Loose lips sink ships."
A bit old for todays times, but just think about what Mr. Klien is
trying to do, who does he help, the public, no..the public already
knows of our intelligence gathering over the internet. But who is Mr.
Klien realy helping, the current news service which will prove some
kind of royalties for releasing the story. Maybe. I tell you who is
going to lose, We are,
Americans who are defending this nation from terrorist in and out of
our country. Oh you don't care, as long as the President and the
Intelligence community of America don't have the tools to fight
international terrorist and Tyrants. You don't Care...? Well get ready
folks, the War is coming to our shores and cities, that is the
realities of this War. Gentlemen like Mr. Klien, though his intension
might be good for some, will cost our country in lives lost do to the
fact our intelligence community could not monitor and Identify
protentual terrorist in and out of our boarders. That is a fact..
Dario Gonzalez
USAF Retired
Posted by: Dario Gonzalez, American | Mar 6, 2007 12:44:18 PM
It only takes something like this to give weight to all conspiracy
theories
Posted by: mad kat | Mar 6, 2007 12:49:56 PM
Whistle-blower Klein: A unique war requires unique weapons. In this
Information Age, we need to use acquired information as one of those
weapons. Let's not tie the hands of every legal agency that is trying
to secure the safety and liberty of the US like we tied the hands of
the US soldiers fighting in Iraq. That country would have been
stabilized months ago if it weren't for our internal polarization.
Posted by: Andrea | Mar 6, 2007 12:53:14 PM
This is another reason why the world do not trust this moron that the
supreme court has installed in the white house, a long time ago my
father once told me "When you're dumb, you're dangerous, and the
occupants of the white house are a very dangerous bunch, lets hope the
change in the election of late...would stop these war hungry men from
starting world warIII.
Posted by: barry storr | Mar 6, 2007 12:55:44 PM
this is typical of the total lack of respect for the contitution that
has been the hallmark of the Bush Administration. Why these people
have not been impeached is a wonder
Posted by: John | Mar 6, 2007 12:58:38 PM
how about prosecuting this guy???
Posted by: Scott Johnson | Mar 6, 2007 1:24:06 PM
It's another case of, 'Just thinking about this violates state
secrets'. How many terrorists are there in the world? How many with
means? .0001% if that? Yet everything we do now resolves around that
small number. 99.999% of US citizens have their rights eroded for
what? With our government today, the only thing we have to fear is
everything.

Posted by: Scott | Mar 6, 2007 1:30:06 PM
I also work in the telecommunications industry.
Contrast this story with the apparent resurgence of a monopolistic
setting of the telecommunications industry and the aggressive A&M
activity of AT&T. Makes one wonder whether the recent FCC rulings
weakening CLEC footprints across the USA is due to sound fiscal
reasoning by the FCC or ease of controlling and monitoring
communications by the NSA. Orwellian for sure – of course only those
doing something wrong should worry. Big government is our friend.

Posted by: Ross | Mar 6, 2007 1:46:57 PM
With the way radical Islamists use the internet for manipulation and
communication, I'm glad national security is onto this. I've got
nothing to hide. Makes me wonder what Mark Klein's been up to. If NSA
and AT&T can help catch the people that are trying to kill us, go for
it.
Posted by: John | Mar 6, 2007 1:47:32 PM
Scott,
It took only 19 to bring down the two towers of the World Trade Center
and to destroy a huge section of the Pentagon. I have no problem with
the government monitoring emails until they find the others.
Posted by: Lane | Mar 6, 2007 1:56:27 PM
It’s appalling that they very government designed to ‘preserve,
defend and protectÂ’ the constitution daily is finding ways to subvert
the very basis of our countryÂ’s existence. Mr. Bush and his cohorts
are one of the greatest dangers to world peace we have today. The
removal of basic rights, government intrusions into our privacy is
exactly how Hitler and other dictators began their reigns. Other
countries are telling us they consider the US as the greatest
contributor to world instability. Where did our values go? George Bush
has been responsible for more American deaths than Osama Bin Laden.
You go, Mark Klein! Thank you, from a fellow American.
Posted by: dsm | Mar 6, 2007 2:09:29 PM
No more secrets as they say. They read your mail, videotape you like
60 times a day, your creditcard information, and now all your internet
traffic. Don't think there is much left. Way to go big goverment
supporters. Can't wait to see if the democrats take over. Then we can
be watched and fed along with everyone else.
YEAH.
Posted by: Mark | Mar 6, 2007 2:11:35 PM
"If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise
of fighting a foreign enemy" -James Madison
Some of you trust the government way too much. It is a body of people,
corruptible fallible people, and yet some of you shrug and think
that 'our government won't do that to us!'
Power will always attract the corruptible. We have a Constitution to
insure that there are boundaries. Lately, we've been pushing those
boundaries to the breaking point.
Guard your privacy and individual liberties, or risk having America
devolve into another Rome.
Posted by: Joe | Mar 6, 2007 2:12:19 PM
These comments read like a horrible cliche. "He must have something to
hide!" "He just hates our government!" "Anyone who doesn't want to
help our government must be a terrist! [sic]."
It's somewhat sad to see Americans indulge themselves in such petty
fear over an inconsequential group of homicidal maniacs. More people
die from drunk driving than terrorism in the US, easily.
What's most humorous is the cowards who wrap themselves in bravery and
act like the brave thing to do is give ourselves over to nanny
government, when in fact they're the ones crying themselves to sleep
over a 1/1000000 chance of terrorism actually ever affecting them.
I guess I'll indulge in a cliche myself - "if we go on like this, the
terrorists have already won."

Posted by: Joe | Mar 6, 2007 2:21:29 PM
I can not believe the number of people commenting on here who are
willing to turn over their lives to the government. We spent countless
lives in two World Wars, one Cold War and now three wars in the Middle
East to prevent just that. And shame on the LAT for not going forward
on the orignal story.
Posted by: Josh | Mar 6, 2007 2:21:56 PM
You people scare me.
You are afraid of rag-tag groups of people who want us dead, so you
are fine with letting us be monitored..."because I have nothing to
hide"?
We went for 40+ years, with thousands of nuclear missles pointed at
us, without desecrating our liberty as we have done since 9/11. I'd
rather risk another strike that hurts my countrymen, than to smother
my liberties, which would kill my country.
That power to monitor won't go away...it will only solidify, and
spread...and remember, the same power that the Repubs use now, the
Dems can use later. Do you think they won't use it for internal
monitoring of 'unamerican activities'? Who defines that?
Sigh...I guess a free country doesn't necessarily yield a love for
freedom.

Posted by: Ken | Mar 6, 2007 2:24:18 PM
Anyone who thinks the Federal Government, once given access to
information, would voluntarily relinquish it once the "war" is over is
exceedingly naive. If it were up to our Beloved Leader, the state of
emergency would go on forever - the better to keep We the Sheeple from
asking too many questions.
By condoning the actions of the Bush Administration and the NSA, you
admit defeat. The terrorists have won. They want to destroy our free
and open society, and it's working. You frightened children, willing
to sacrifice anything in order to be kept safe, are not good
Americans. You are slaves to your terror, and our enemies' best friend.
Posted by: Conscientious Object. | Mar 6, 2007 2:26:27 PM
Mark,
You took the words right from my mouth. Being a 23yr conservative male
nothing in this world scares me more than the way this country is
going.
Posted by: Andrew | Mar 6, 2007 2:29:05 PM
This is old news. We already know this is going on. This guy has to
shop to get a buyer. That in itself speaks volumes. This does nothing
to bolster unity in America. Have some cheese to go with your whine.
Our freedoms were lost a long time ago when the people of
America 'gave' less to the states and more to the government. It's
just really ironic to me that a Republican leader is the one to put
the accent mark on top. There is a balance between security and
freedom and though it doesn't bother me to have this kind of invasion
of privacy on a temporary basis, I wouldn't want a permanent
policy....certainly not if Hillary were Pres.! If you think Bush's
politics are without thought to outside arguments or by bullying
tactics, Hillary will exponentially increase those statistics!
Posted by: Ellen | Mar 6, 2007 2:30:35 PM
It's quit apparent that the Right Wing Illiterates are out of school.
They forgot their spell books...... And had to run back into their
caves to Mama Cheney to rant about being busted for sticking THEIR
nose where it dosen't belong! Get a life Neo's! When it all comes down
your the ones that are going to be at a loss. Your conservative
bubbles will be burst!
Posted by: Jerry | Mar 6, 2007 2:31:40 PM
They believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted
in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly; for I have
sworn upon the altar of god, eternal hostility against every form of
tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from
me: and enough, too, in their opinion.
-Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Sept. 23, 1800
Posted by: Adam | Mar 6, 2007 2:34:11 PM
Alright a couple of points here:
"Loose ships sink ships." is what is referred to as a straw man
argument. Yes loose ships sink ships but that has nothing to do with
our privacy rights and freedoms being infringed upon. No ships are at
stake in this case, and even if they were these are civilians that are
being monitored not servicemen. This is about illigal and
indiscriminate inteligence gathering on US citizens not legitament war
time stadegies. This is about a man calling attention to a law being
broken, a law that is every bit as legitiment as any in our country
including our constitution. This is not about a man telling the enimy
about a ship that's about to attack them. It's more like a man telling
the country about a ship that's about to collide with the statue of
liberty. If you can't see the difference, then something is seriously
skewed with your logic.
We take Bush's word that they are only surveying "suspected
terrorists" and even if this were true, as suspects and not convicts
they still have privacy rights. The moment we start allowing law
enforcement, intelligence, or the military to arbitrarily remove
rights when they have suspicions is the moment our rights are nothing
more then a delusion of semantics.
By gathering intel on everyone, and filtering it out to just suspects
they effectively are putting the cart before the house. By having such
a large pool of information they have enough to determine suspects
based on that pool, thus justifying it's collection. This is a
convenient bit of circular logic that means anyone, anywhere is a
suspect if they do something suspicious. Such as what I'm doing now by
exercising my free speech and giving an unpopular opinion about
something they're doing.
Posted by: Paul | Mar 6, 2007 2:39:06 PM
I find it totally odd that everyone is so trusting of the same
government that has lied and caused the deaths of many innocent
soldiers, treats it's veterans like crap and financially supports all
types of people instead of its own. Our freedoms stem from people who
left opression and tyrants, not to be followed up by another form of
it. I agree, some things are necessary but we could be spending money
on more productive things than spying on internet traffic.
Posted by: Norman Williamson | Mar 6, 2007 2:39:54 PM
Mark Klein is a patriot. He risks his job to expose physical evidence
of a crime against our constitution. This is grounds for the
impeachment of George Bush. War or no war, this is an infringement to
our most basic rights as American citizens.
The Fourth amendment to the United States Constitution is one of the
provisions included in the Bill of Rights. The Amendment guards
against unreasonable searches and seizures, and was originally
designed as a response to the controversial writs of assistance (a
type of general search warrant), which were a significant factor
behind the American Revolution.
Once our leaders start disregarding what is written in the
constitution, the terrorist have won the first battle of the war.
God Bless America. Because we're going to need it.
Posted by: Tony | Mar 6, 2007 2:52:11 PM
The sheer asinine comments of those willing to let the government run
their lives is a testament to the sedentary 'see, hear, speak no evil'
drones of middle america. It's preposterous to allow things like this
happen 'because we want to protect you'
Protect you from what? Terrorism? What's Terrorism to you may be free
speech to most..Terrorism to you may be worshipping what god you want
to choose to most...Terrorism to the guy doing the Big Brother may be
an ordinary way of life to most. The point is that giving up little
freedoms to a faceless 'mothering' is a true real terror. Little
freedoms add up and then big freedoms begin to erode.
And to the people who say 'he should not be sticking his nose in' I
got three words for you - The Pentagon Papers. Look it up and find out
why sometimes 'sticking your nose in' is needed.
'For your own good' is NOT an answer to impeding on what people bled
for today, yesterday, and inevitably the future.
Posted by: Tim | Mar 6, 2007 2:52:53 PM
A lot of you people are funny. Do you think the Bush Administration
was the 1st to to a national wiretap? The NSA has been around along
time prior to them coming out of the closet. Think about how many
years NSA and other agencies gathered info on the masses. Stop using
Bush as the one who started this. Our government has been spying on
its people for 50+ years now and all of a sudden people are like "OH
MY GOD IT SO WRONG" Wake up and smell the roses. Only reason we know
about it now is because technology is more abundant and the media is
all over the place. Goes back to another old saying, "what you don't
know can't hurt ya"
Posted by: Shameless | Mar 6, 2007 3:01:09 PM
The actions of this administration since 9/11 has been suspect at the
very least. We have opted out of the Geneva Convention and theatened
war with the Netherlands if an American were brought up on charges and
we have detained the usual suspects for five years or more without
access to family, lawyers or any due course guaranteed under a
democracy.
How are we suppose to trust those who went to war under the guise of
promoting democracy, yet deny them the benefits of democracy?
Anyone can be considered a terrorist at any given moment, including
those who criticize the administration or the war.
The words 'National Security' is being used as a rationalization as it
was during the Nixon administration to cover up that administrations
crimes against the American people. Then, covert spying on American
citizens were rampant, especially those who criticized the Viet-Nam
war or the Nixon administration. Sound familiar?
Posted by: Kate | Mar 6, 2007 3:04:20 PM
Very well done Jerry.
Posted by: Kevin | Mar 6, 2007 3:09:51 PM
I can not believe the number of people commenting on here who are
willing to turn over their lives to the government.
No the question is, why you guys on the left who don't trust this
government want to willingly turn over so much of your money to an
entity you don't trust.
Why is that?
Posted by: Jo | Mar 6, 2007 3:10:56 PM
Gosh .... and all this time I thought it was "Loose lips sink ships."
Posted by: Kevin | Mar 6, 2007 3:11:57 PM
Remember this: Wars are between governments, and, big government will
protect only itself. OBL hates our govt seemingly, but, its more about
what he wants to see the world shaped into. OBL uses our govt as his
whipping boy for recruitment, and our govt uses OBL as its reason to
clamp down. EVEN IF the monitoring is not being used in abusive way, a
person someday in the future will say, "get me the internet traffic
for that Greg Sudderth guy, find something, find something where he
supports OBL and let's pick him up." If its a resource, someone will
use it. We don't leave loaded guns around the house on the sofa, do we?
Posted by: Greg Sudderth | Mar 6, 2007 3:15:54 PM
As someone who works in the IT field, I can tell you first hand that
1) The government does not care what the average joe does on the
internet and 2) The government does not have the resources to capture
everything on the internet, at this point in time it is impossible.
That amount of data (even per minute) exceeds the limitations of mass
storage and would call for warehouses full of drives/tapes etc (and
that might only capture 1 days worth of information).
Posted by: DW | Mar 6, 2007 3:16:37 PM
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little
Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Quote by that
pesky, left-wing nut Benjamin Franklin. Let's remember what it means
to live in America, and stop freely sacrificing our liberties. If we
do, the "bad guys" have won, haven't they?
Posted by: Dawn | Mar 6, 2007 3:21:32 PM
Why it it so easy to picture Klein and Jane Fonda in the same
picture??????????
Posted by: Kerry | Mar 6, 2007 3:23:30 PM
Our president has tried to make this country safe from these terrorist
since 9/11. How soon some people have forgot what this country went
through amazes me. There are people in this country like this Mark
Klein that wants to put his policial agenda ahead of the safety of
this country. I say if you are not doing anything wrong why would you
worry about this. It makes me feel safer for me and for my family to
know that the government is watching what these terrorist are doing.
Mr. Klein does not care about our safety or our soldiers safety. What
is wrong with this man! I agree totally with Mr. Dario Gonzalez which
stated it so correctly.
Posted by: Terry Lawson | Mar 6, 2007 3:25:35 PM
Who can you trust these days?
Posted by: MacDonald | Mar 6, 2007 3:32:16 PM
This guy knew ATT was involved with secret government work and decided
unilaterally to tell all. Was his motivation to protect us all? I
doubt it. Maybe he grew up watching too many superhero cartoons
thinking he too could save the world. More than likely he was just
looking for a book deal and his 15 minutes of fame. Either way he
should be prosectuted to the fullest extent of the law for revealing
secrets and possessing secret material without a clearance.
Posted by: Don Lester | Mar 6, 2007 3:37:08 PM
Lane, it also took only 19 people to rollback over 200 years of
rights. What happened to the motto, Live Free or Die? It's only valid
if there is no risk of harm? What have we become in this country? Why
not check in to some government controlled town and never leave? It's
like people are afraid to live, afraid of their shadow? You are move
likely to die driving home tonight!
Posted by: Scott | Mar 6, 2007 3:37:27 PM
I think the guy was right to let people know what was "behind that
curtain."
And as others have written here, once the equipment has been built,
finding out if AT&T is still gleaning from our private conversations
will be as easy as finding WMDs in Iraq. Just because the law might
change later after this stupid war is over, doesn't mean the equipment
and actions of AT&T people in power will stop.
Don't forget that AT&T had been declared a monopoly more than 20 years
ago and broken up, but look now... it's one big happy family again (as
long as you say nothing about what's behind that door).

Posted by: WatchfulEye | Mar 6, 2007 3:38:41 PM
Anyone who thinks that this type of blanket surveillance is OK has a
serious reading comprehension problem. I would advise all of you to re-
read the Constitution of the United States of America. You may find
that you are entitled to certain rights that the Bush administration
has blatantly ignored. Also note, that nowhere in the document does it
say "Void in times of war".
Posted by: Ralph | Mar 6, 2007 3:48:52 PM
What are you guys so afraid of that you're willing to turn over all
your personal information over to the government? Land of the free,
home of the brave my foot. We're rapidly turning into land of the
controlled and home of the manipulated.
Posted by: John | Mar 6, 2007 3:52:37 PM
Erm i'm from England just reading this via a link on another site and
I am really really shocked at how readily most of the people posting
here are happy to just lose their civil liberties. Have you learned
nothing from your useless government yet? I mean our isn't much better
but at least everyone here realises that. It's INSANE how many of you
seem to be just regurgitating all the shit that's been fed to you
through the media and politicians. I used to love America but i really
must say i've never found a country so at odds with the image it
promotes. Land of the free? Or land of the watched? I never really
equated freedom with the ability for someone to eavesdrop my entire
life. Please get rid of your moron in power - we're trying to do the
same.
Posted by: Not Tony Blair | Mar 6, 2007 3:53:14 PM
25 years ago (during the Cold War) there were rumors that NSA recorded
every overseas conversation. I think the big story here is to answer
the question regarding how long this has been going on. Terrorism is
only the latest lamest excuse. If these agencies had been doing their
jobs in the first place, using Constitutional means, there would not
have been a 9/11. So explain to me how giving up our liberties is
preventing another one?
Posted by: kbbpll | Mar 6, 2007 3:59:51 PM
As one who has been in communications for over thirty years, both in
and out of the military, I can assure you that domestic electronic
intercepts dealing with "subversive" (defined by those in power at the
time) communications has been effectively been going on since the
capability existed to filter out the unwanted (private citizen)
communications. Basically, this began when NSA (or was it the FBI?)
bought their first Cray computer. This is continuing still today. It
has also transcended presidencies from both parties. When somneone
releases information they should reasonably know is classified (such
as a telephone company employee telling a suspected criminal that the
police have a wire tap on his phone), that violates laws. In the case
of my example, it would be a local or state law. In the case of
national security , it violates federal law. Whether you decide the
information should be made public is not an individual's choice to
make. There are procedures to
challange the security classification. If you violate the law you
should be held accountable. If the government is taking precautions to
filter out the undesired information before it reaches humans (which
they are), they have not violated your privacy. If you are contacting
or contacteed by known/suspected terrorists (whether you know it or
not), you can expect to have your conversation intercepted (just as
you would expect if you contacted a suspected criminal and the FBI or
local police had a wire tap on them). I think what most americans
really object to is who has the authority to authorize the intercepts.
When dealing with highly sensitive information, secrecy demands the
authority be kept close hold. The NSA is the proper authority when
dealing with the global war on terrorism. Whether you agree with the
concept of attempting to stop terrorist attacks or not is another
matter.
Posted by: tim | Mar 6, 2007 4:03:54 PM
Its amazing what "the people" are willing to give up for sense of
security. No im not moving to another country, I love my country and I
love my people, my government on the other hand has some issues that
need to be resolved. One if one innocent person's privacy or freedom
has been violated that is enough. It would be stupid to think that the
terrorists don't know they are being monitered via the internet or
cellphones...
Posted by: Aaron C | Mar 6, 2007 4:10:17 PM
What I don't understand is...in the 90's the woods around Idaho and
Arkansas were full of guys in camo, stashing weapons and following a
cultish affiliation to thier fantasy that the "government" was coming
with black helicopters to impose World Domination on them. Fifteen
years later we are in fact much closer to that dangerous outcome, but
now these same conspiracy theorists are slapping flags on their
vehicles, are glued to FOX news and are the first to say that we must
support our government right or wrong. Let me rephrase that; they see
no evil, thier Fearless Leader is always right and the government
should be allowed to do what it wants in all cases because they have
our best interests in mind. Really? What has this government done for
you lately? Think for yourself. Stop being so scared. Develop a little
backbone and protect your rights!
Posted by: Sonora | Mar 6, 2007 4:18:13 PM
Terrorism is a lame excuse for destroying personal liberties and
making a mockery of the Constitution. I fought the Cold War and I
guarantee you our enemies had FAR more resources at their disposal
than Bin Laden and his sympathizers. Yet, somehow we came out on top
without destroying our freedoms, installing a dictator, or frisking 95-
year-old women at the airport in the name of "security".
Posted by: Trystann | Mar 6, 2007 4:22:46 PM
If you're innocent, why do you need rights? :)
Posted by: Observer | Mar 6, 2007 4:23:35 PM
There are some scary comments posted here! Condemn the guy, prosecute
him, etc. He should be given a medal for reporting this illegal
activity by da gubment!! An illegal war is not cause for trampling
citizens' rights. The Bush administration lost all credibility when
they abandoned the war on terror to pursue Iraqi oil. It is shocking,
though not surprising (because people are so stupid), that G.Dumbya
still has supporters. Kudos to Klein!
Posted by: UscareME | Mar 6, 2007 4:33:08 PM
are u guys kidding me? who cares... wow
Posted by: this is a stupid thread | Mar 6, 2007 4:33:26 PM
I am in favor of surveillance that is monitor by both sides of the
political spectrum.
Unfortunately, the current Cheney Administration* is using this
surveillance to gain an information edge on their political opposition
to create smog screens for the American People and continue their
personal agenda.
Posted by: Marc Gonzakez | Mar 6, 2007 4:33:49 PM
Does anybody else think this sounds similar to the movie, "Three Days
of the Condor", starring Robert Redford? The main character "had a
story" and took it to the newspaper... You know the rest.
Is this something new? No, and it won't go away either.

Posted by: marian | Mar 6, 2007 4:34:13 PM
tim - "If the government is taking precautions to filter out the
undesired information before it reaches humans (which they are), they
have not violated your privacy."
So Tim, if an automated machine opens all my mail, scans it, then
searches it for keywords before turning it over to an NSA goon, it is
not violating my privacy? If a robot comes into my home, sniffs for
bombs, photographs everything, then scans it for suspicious objects
before turning it over to an NSA goon, it is not violating my privacy?
If we are innocent we have nothing to fear (except rendition to a
country that practices torture).
When my wife calls her mother overseas and the NSA records this
conversation without a warrant, or when she exchanges emails with her
overseas sister and the NSA opens the email and scans it without a
warrant, you can be damn sure this violates the Bill of Rights
regarding unreasonable searches. The terrorists have won.
Posted by: kbbpll | Mar 6, 2007 4:38:55 PM
Good for Mr. Klein!! And to those who are naysayers, yes, documents
like the details of the NSA rooms are left laying around, I have
witnessed things such as this for over 30 years in the
telecommunications industry. Bush is a bully and it is time for him to
answer for his actions
Posted by: D2 | Mar 6, 2007 4:42:53 PM
It is not in the NSA's charter to operate within the borders of the
United States unless authorized by the FISA court system.
The Bush administration their his pet Alberto Gonzalez decided to
allow intelligence gathering without the consent of FISA, effectively
removing the safe guards that protected the liberties of Americans.
I applaud the whistle blower spoke of in this story because it shines
a light on the depth at which the neo-con's will go to in order to
consolidate power to the executive branch.
Even with FISA it is hard to know how much abuse we have in the intel
gathering system within the US. I'll take all the whistle blowers I
can get.

Posted by: Daniel | Mar 6, 2007 4:44:54 PM
I read your email...
Posted by: Strongbad | Mar 6, 2007 4:53:16 PM
Amazing. A lone individual makes a decision to stand up for the basic
civil liberties of millions - and folks here want him tried, arrested,
audited, drawn, quartered, and branded a traitor.
I salute Mark Klein for doing the right thing.
May the folks here never have to face the tragedy of losing the rights
they are so ready to hand over...
Perhaps you folks aren't old enough to remember Shamrock or Minaret,
but it bears some repeating: our track record ain't the greatest on
this one.

Posted by: Bryan | Mar 6, 2007 4:57:21 PM
Mark Klein should be rewarded for his bravery and patriotism for
uncovering a MASSIVE illegal operation run by the government. Without
whistle blowers like Mr. Klein we are doomed to an oligarchy.
Posted by: Eric | Mar 6, 2007 5:04:20 PM
All you people are "INGNORANT BUFFOONS." While our civil liberties are
stealthly being taken away and slowly eroding by our criminal
government, "WE" citizens of the U.S.A sit twiddling our thumbs.
Someone stated we are at "WAR!" I don't remember the United States of
America declaring war on anybody! Congress passed a resolution giving
President Bush the authority to initiate offensive measures on
terrorists. Any yet, we have not captured UBL. Is it that hard to
catch one man. Why would the US government need to see what I surf on
the internet?
Posted by: George Orwell | Mar 6, 2007 5:05:31 PM
Observer: You are a Moron, soppose someone hates you because you are
white, black, male, female, homosexual, hetrosexual, or any other
silly reason. They say you did something you did not do, they say you
can't vote, they say you are sub human. You are innocent, do you still
think you don't need rights. Quick reminder: the U.S. Government
enforced slavery.
Posted by: ReallyObservent | Mar 6, 2007 5:13:33 PM
Mr. Ross,
It's good to see you are now on the Klein story, but your piece
neglects to mention that Wired News published a large chunk of Klein's
documents in May 2006.
Posted by: Ryan Singel | Mar 6, 2007 5:24:19 PM
But, more onto the point. The government doesn't have the right to
intrude into our personal lives in this manner. Period. It violates
the Constitution. Hopefully the next president will have some respect
for the foundations this country was built upon and will not trample
over our basic rights.
Posted by: Billy the Kid | Mar 6, 2007 5:39:18 PM
"If the government is taking precautions to filter out the undesired
information before it reaches humans (which they are), they have not
violated your privacy."
What??? It is NOT the government's right to filter information to me!
As an American I have the right to decipher for myself what I chose to
read and then agree or disagree with.
They are talking about monitoring our conversations. If I choose to
discuss the idiocy of baby bush with my mother online, keywords in the
conversation are going to get flagged. Stopping me from talking about
and congregating with others to talk about how stupid our current
president is is my right as an American—NOT the right of selected
individuals holding a government job!
Posted by: WatchfulEye | Mar 6, 2007 5:40:24 PM
These people who defend the government's illegal actions and criticize
the one person who's actually trying to preserve their freedoms are
simply living examples of why the Nazis had such an easy time of
gaining control of Germany and instituting all of its horrific
policies. They're more worried about losing their precious BMW's and
McMansions than they are about their fundamental rights to liberty. To
those people, I would ask, do you think our forefathers willingly
risked their lives, their families' lives, and all that they owned in
their fight for freedom only to have us turn it over so easily because
we're afraid of Al Qaeda? If we weren't willing to subvert our
freedoms for the Nazis and the Communists, which were much bigger
threats, why we are we so willing to do so now?
Posted by: Pete | Mar 6, 2007 6:07:56 PM
Pete, you hit the nail on the head!
Posted by: WatchfulEye | Mar 6, 2007 6:35:57 PM
It's amazing how well the propaganda is working on Americans. Citizens
in other countries get it. So sad to see how many of you are in favor
of illegal surveillance. Go back to sleep and continue watching
television! Didn't you all learn anything from history?
As long as amnesia is America's favorite pastime, you will remain
brainless slaves.
Posted by: Morpheus | Mar 6, 2007 6:48:41 PM
Just keeping chipping away at democracy, and what are you left with?
Those surveillance tools are a wonderful thing for the spooks, they
make it easier than ever to build dossiers against your political
opponents. And anyone who thinks that these tools are just being used
against terrorists has a screw loose. All you have to do is change
your definition of terrorist. Are you against the status quo? Uh-oh,
you're a potential terrorist! Remember when Ashcroft said "If you're
not with us, you're against us"? That utterance speaks volumes.
The world is MUCH less safe with the Bush/Cheney dynamic duo in
charge. Boy, that Iraq/Oil thing was a good idea;-)
Up next, WWIII starts in Iran.
(American nutjobs vs. Iranian nutjobs)
Haven't you heard, Iran has WMD!
Don't worry, the corporate media are on top of the story. They'll
uncover the truth just like they did in Ira....oh never mind.
Posted by: Mike | Mar 6, 2007 8:09:16 PM
To all you "citizens" that see no harm in having the US intercept and
monitor our privileged communications, do you have any idea what
you're losing? The freedom to privacy and to be secure in our
communications and property is a paramount concept guaranteed by our
constitution. There are no exceptions to this, even if you have
nothing to hide or don't mind.
Remember that when you give up these civil liberties, you can *never*
regain them. The gov't does not willingly give back rights that it has
reserved or usurped. Our society is free because of these protections,
and as soon as one of them is infringed, we all suffer, and come one
step closer to losing them all.
Even if you have no problem with Bush murdering our constitutional
rights, remember that the political winds change frequently. As time
passes, evil men can and will be elected president. It is
mathematically inevitable. These evil men will think nothing of
abusing you, and if the civil liberties put in place to protect you
are already gone, there will be no defense left. *You* will disappear
unaccounted for in secret CIA prisons, instead of terrorists. *You*
will have no right to the courts to challenge your torture and
detention, instead of the terrorists. *You* will have destroyed the
greatest country on earth, instead of terrorists.

----------------

U.S. Steps Into Wiretap Suit Against AT&T
By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: April 29, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO, April 28 — The government asked a federal judge here
Friday to dismiss a civil liberties lawsuit against the AT&T
Corporation because of a possibility that military and state secrets
would otherwise be disclosed.
The lawsuit, accusing the company of illegally collaborating with the
National Security Agency in a vast surveillance program, was filed in
February by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties
group.
The class-action suit, which seeks an end to the collaboration it
alleges, is based in part on the testimony of Mark Klein, a retired
technician for the company who says Internet data passing through an
AT&T switching center in San Francisco is being diverted to a secret
room. There, Mr. Klein says, the security agency has installed
powerful computers to eavesdrop without warrants on the digital data
and forward the information to an undisclosed place.
The foundation has filed documents obtained by Mr. Klein that
ostensibly show detailed technical information on N.S.A. technology
used to divert Internet data. He has also said in a deposition that
employees of the agency went to the switching center to oversee
special projects.
The company has declined to address the suit publicly, saying it will
have no comment on matters of national security or customer privacy.
In its action Friday, the government filed a statement of interest
asserting military and state secret privilege in asking the judge,
Vaughn R. Walker, to dismiss the suit. Separately on Friday, AT&T also
filed two motions to dismiss.
The government's filing said the authorities "cannot disclose any
national security information that may be at issue in this case." The
document went on to say that the filing should not be construed as
either a confirmation or a denial of any of the claims made by the
civil liberties group about government surveillance activities.
Elsewhere in the document, however, the government said President Bush
had explained that after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he authorized
the security agency to intercept communications into and out of the
United States by people linked to Al Qaeda and related organizations.
The agency is ordinarily prohibited from intercepting the telephone
and digital communications of American citizens without a warrant from
a special intelligence court.
Responding to the filing, Cindy Cohn, legal director for the
Electronic Frontier Foundation, said, "We think the government's right
to conduct this program should be considered separately from the issue
of whether a telecommunications firm has the right to break the law."
The government's interest, Ms. Cohn said, is an indication that the
lawsuit is not frivolous.
The court plans to hear the various motions on May 17.
Earlier this year, the foundation asked the government to examine the
documents that the group was preparing to submit to the court related
to Mr. Klein's testimony. At the time, the government chose not to
intervene, and the documents were filed under seal.
The documents, which include affidavits, lists of equipment and
technical specifications related to tapping fiber-optic network links,
have been obtained independently by a number of news organizations.
They refer to a similar installation in an AT&T facility in Atlanta,
and Mr. Klein has said he believes there are related eavesdropping
facilities attached to AT&T centers in San Jose, Los Angeles, San
Diego and Seattle.





Skip Wigmore
Light of Life Ministries
Smithfield, NC
lolministries@...
Rev. 18:4