[privacy] U.S. Government to Ask Courts to Toss Phone Suits

["Fergie" <fergdawg () netzero net>]

"...and the clocks were striking thirteen..."

Via The Washington Post (Bloomberg).

[snip]

The government will seek dismissal of 20 lawsuits accusing the biggest telecommunications companies of providing 
customer call data to the National Security Agency, claiming that "military and state secrets" might be divulged were 
the lawsuits to proceed.

The Justice Department said it will not ask for the dismissal until all the lawsuits are consolidated before a single 
judge, according to papers filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, where a complaint is pending against AT&T Inc.

All of the cases contain "allegations about certain telecommunications carriers' purported assistance in classified 
government activities," the Justice Department said in its papers. "The United States intends to assert the military 
and state secrets privilege in those actions and to seek their dismissal."

[snip]

More here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/08/AR2006060800048.html

- ferg


--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg () netzero net or fergdawg () sbcglobal net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/

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