Internet group sues US government
The suit was filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which took the administration to task for what it argued is "illegal surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans."
EFF lawyers filed a suit against AT&T in 2006 charging the US telecom giant of opening its network to National Security Agency (NSA) agents without proper warrants to scour communications.
In the summer, Congress passed legislation granting US telecommunications firms immunity from domestic spying lawsuits.
Wrangling about the constitutionality of that act has stalled the AT&T lawsuit as well as a slew of similar litigation aimed at other telecommunications firms.
EFF lawyers said Thursday that the new lawsuit is aim squarely at government officials, thereby sidestepping the immunity act.
"Our goal in this new case against the government, as in our case against AT&T, is to dismantle this dragnet surveillance program as soon as possible," said EFF senior staff attorney Kevin Bankston.
"For years, the NSA has been engaged in a massive and massively illegal fishing expedition through AT&T’s domestic networks and databases of customer records."
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