US judge refuses to derail domestic spying case

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) — A US federal judge has rejected requests from US government and telecom firm lawyers to immediately freeze domestic spying lawsuits while an appeals court considers whether national security would be threatened in trying them. In the first case involving the White House's authorization of the top-secret warrantless wiretapping program, San Francisco District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker refused to put on hold the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) suit against telecommunications giant AT&T for its alleged role in the program.

EFF sued AT&T for with helping the National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on millions of customers by sharing telephone and e-mail data without obtaining warrants. The NSA conducted the program as part of "war on terror"...