[IP] EFF Engages Veteran Lobbyists to Take Fight Against Warrantless Wiretapping to Capitol Hill

[David Farber <dfarber@cs.cmu.edu>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: EFF Press <press@eff.org>
Date: October 5, 2007 5:23:04 PM EDT
To: presslist@eff.org
Subject: [E-B] EFF Engages Veteran Lobbyists to Take Fight Against  
Warrantless	Wiretapping to Capitol Hill
Reply-To: press@eff.org

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Friday, October 05, 2007

Contact:

Rebecca Jeschke
   Media Coordinator
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   press@eff.org
   +1 415 436-9333 x125

EFF Engages Veteran Lobbyists to Take Fight Against
Warrantless Wiretapping to Capitol Hill

Thomas J. Downey and Adam M. Eisgrau Will Work to Block
Amnesty for Telecoms

San Francisco - As Congress debates letting the telecom
industry off the hook for its compliance with illegal
government surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans,
the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has enlisted two
veteran lobbyists to try to block amnesty for companies
collaborating with the warrantless spying.

EFF is lead counsel for the plaintiffs in Hepting v. AT&T,
one of many lawsuits aimed at holding telecommunications
companies accountable for violating their customers' rights
by illegally assisting the National Security Agency in
domestic surveillance.  The opportunity for this critical
case to be decided by a judge is under serious threat as
the White House calls for Congress to provide these
companies with immunity for their role in the illegal
program.

In an effort to preserve the courts' crucial role in
protecting the privacy of all Americans, EFF will now take
its fight against warrantless spying to Capitol Hill.
Thomas J. Downey and Adam M. Eisgrau, both with decades of
experience in Washington, have been retained by EFF to work
to block amnesty for companies who break the law.

"While EFF generally does not engage in Washington-style
lobbying, we need to make Congress understand the
importance of letting our case against AT&T go forward,"
said EFF Executive Director Shari Steele.  "By releasing
the telecoms from liability, Congress would be permitting
the widespread flouting of our laws by private companies
entrusted with our most personal communications."

To help with EFF's "Stop the Spying" campaign:
http://www.stopthespying.org

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2007_10.php#005474

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/


     -end-

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