The Program / Das Program ..... you hear me ?

"Intelligence is a vital part of fighting and winning the war against the terrorists. It is — because the war against terrorists is a war against individuals who hide in caves in remote parts of the world ..."

President Bush. BROADCAST ON NBC’S “MEET THE PRESS”

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2004

Days before the President was telling the world about the needs of intelligence to fight his war on terrism, The Electronic Frotnier Foundation lodged a claim on January 31st 2006 -" CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES, DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF : January 31, 2006 " this is available here.PDF Alert !

Here is a selection of relevant paragraphs outlining the claim, (better to read the whole thing to fully grasp the case) stating the basis in law, and outlining the case for punitive damages.

It reveals that when you pick up the phone, send an e-mail, text a message you are feeding a massive database which the the EFF claim is accessible to the US Government illegally, an enterprise which since 911 they have been assisted by AT&T... and now other US based telco's.... and are continuing to do so. Remember, somewhere there is a database record that you are now accessing this page......

23. By the end of 2004, on an average business day, AT&T Corp.’s network handled over 300 million voice calls as well as over 4,000 terabytes (million megabytes) of data, including traffic from AT&T Business Services and AT&T Consumer Services, approximately 200 times the amount of data contained in all the books in the Library of Congress.

31. The NSA began a classified surveillance program (“the Program”) shortly after September 11, 2001 to intercept the telephone and Internet communications of people inside the United States without judicial authorization, a program that continues to this day.

32. The President has stated that he authorized the Program in 2001, that he has
reauthorized the Program more than 30 times since its inception, and that he intends to continue doing so.

33. The Attorney General has admitted that, absent additional authority from Congress, the electronic surveillance conducted by the Program requires a court order under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq.).

52. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, “AT&T has a database code-named Daytona
that keeps track of telephone numbers on both ends of calls as well as the duration of all land-line calls…. After Sept. 11, intelligence agencies began to view it as a potential investigative tool, and the NSA has had a direct hookup into the database….” Joseph Menn and Josh Meyer, U.S. Spying is Much Wider, Some Suspect, L.A. TIMES, Dec. 25, 2005, at A1. On information and belief, this report is substantially correct.(See Footnote re NYT)

93. By the acts alleged herein, AT&T Corp. has intentionally engaged in electronic surveillance (as defined by 50 U.S.C. § 1801(f)) under color of law, but which is not authorized by any statute, and AT&T Corp. has intentionally subjected Plaintiffs and class members to such electronic surveillance, in violation of 50 U.S.C. § 1809.

137. In relevant part, 18 U.S.C. § 3121 provides that:
(a) In general.--Except as provided in this section, no person may install or use a pen register or a trap and trace device without first obtaining a court order under section 3123 of this title or under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).

Subsequently further claims have been made in the press, notably by USA Today. However they have just rowed back a little on the specific claims they have made on May 11th which USA TODAY reported that its sources said AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon had agreed to provide the NSA with call records.

In a story yesterday USA Today makes a statement "Based on its reporting after the May 11 article, USA TODAY has now concluded that while the NSA has built a massive domestic calls record database involving the domestic call records of telecommunications companies, the newspaper cannot confirm that BellSouth or Verizon contracted with the NSA to provide bulk calling records to that database."

Perhaps two elements of the story that intrigue most are the comment from Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who receives briefings as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee and after whom they named an Airport in Alaska."It was long-distance. It was targeted on (geographic) areas of interest, places to which calls were believed to have come from al-Qaeda affiliates and from which calls were made to al-Qaeda affiliates." (Just what is the area code for Tora Bora caves ?)

They also report that quail and lawyer shooter, Vice President Cheney held private talks this month with Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Cheney discouraged them from supporting Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter's vow to call telecommunications executives before the panel to answer questions about the database. Specter, R-Pa., protested to Cheney in an angry public letter.

It would be surprising that any US citizen should be surprised by all this ... especially as the original EFF complaint stated .....

63. On information and belief, there is a strong likelihood that Defendants will continue to intentionally intercept, disclose, divulge and use Plaintiffs' and class members' communications and records in cooperation with the Program.

AP has more
FOOTNOTE

On December 16, 2005, a New York Times article revealed the NSA had been instructed to intercept certain telephone conversations between suspected al-Qaeda-connected persons in the U.S. and those in other countries without first obtaining court warrants for each instance of surveillance. The NYT claimed they had known this for a year and had delayed publication at the request of White House officials.The reporters, James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 2006.

HISTORICAL ASIDE

As early as 1932, Walter Funk, Hitler's Personal Economic Adviser, wrote a pamphlet entitled "Economic Reconstruction Program of the NSDAP", which, after its approval by Hitler, became the Party's official pronouncement on economic matters ... "Das Program".

Funk went on to become the effective head under Goebbels of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda ... he was quoted ...

"Propaganda is the most modern instrument of power and fighting weapon of state policy. The establishing of the Propaganda Ministry is vital, for the national political policy of the new State Leadership is to be the general good of the whole people. Therefore, the total political, artistic, cultural and spiritual life of the nation, must be brought on to one level and directed from one central point."

(Voelkischer Beobachter, South German Edition, 31 March 1933).