Ann Campoy reporting for Marketwatch notes:

A federal judge in Chicago on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed against AT&T Inc. to stop the company from providing telephone records to the government, according to reports.

U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said requiring AT&T to disclose if it has turned over telephone records to the federal government could provide insight on the country's intelligence activities to its adversaries, the reports said.

I rather think the cat is out of the bag on this one. Additionally I think Judge Kennelly's decision belies a little latent prejudice against "our adversaries" (whomever they might be -- the government seems variable on this point) as dim witted and technologically backward. I'm pretty sure al-Qaida members are as capable of using PGP or GPG as Neural Gourmet readers are. Perhaps more so since they're motivated to keep their plans secret.

Meanwhile, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's case against AT&T has overcome a major hurdle and continues to move forward:

A federal judge has refused to dismiss the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) case against AT&T for collaborating with the NSA in illegal spying on millions of ordinary Americans, setting the stage for a congressional showdown over proposed dramatic changes in federal surveillance law.

US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker said in his ruling, "The compromise between liberty and security remains a difficult one. But dismissing this case at the outset would sacrifice liberty for no apparent enhancement of security."

However, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and the White House have worked out a deal on legislation that could vanish the EFF's lawsuit, and any similar suit, out of the traditional court system into the shadowy FISA court system.

EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl speaking on the proposed legislation said, "As Judge Walker demonstrated today, the conventional court system is perfectly capable of handling these cases and can do so by balancing the public's need for transparency with proper protections for security. Any bill that would attempt to sweep these cases into the secret court should be rejected."

AT&T is expected to appeal this decision. Also, a panel of judges will decide this week whether or not the EFF's lawsuit should be combined with others challenging the illegal spying program.

If your Senator is on the Senate Judiciary Committee which will vote tomorrow on Senator Specter's bill S. 2453, and possibly an even worse bill, S. 2455 introduced by Senator DeWine (R-OH) it really couldn't hurt to call them and express your concern. If you're unsure whether or not your Senator is on the Judiciary Committee, the EFF can help.

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