The National Security Agency, Keith B. Alexander, Michel V. Hayden, George W. Bush, Richard B. Cheney, David S. Addington, the Department of Justice (DOJ), Michael B. Mukasey, Alberto R. Gonzales, John D. Ashcroft, John M. McConnell, John D. Negroponte and does #1-100. These were the names listed in a lawsuit (PDF) filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other plaintiff in the Jewel v. NSA case. It’s a bid to stop the warrantless wiretapping which was passed into law almost four months ago under the “Protect America Act”

When it was passed into law, civil rights immediately condemned the actions and said that they would sue. Making good on their word, they did. From the EFF announcement:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a lawsuit against the National Security Agency (NSA) and other government agencies today on behalf of AT&T customers to stop the illegal, unconstitutional, and ongoing dragnet surveillance of their communications and communications records. The five individual plaintiffs are also suing President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Cheney’s chief of staff David Addington, former Attorney General and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and other individuals who ordered or participated in the warrantless domestic surveillance.

The lawsuit, Jewel v. NSA, is aimed at ending the NSA’s dragnet surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans and holding accountable the government officials who illegally authorized it. Evidence in the case includes undisputed documents provided by former AT&T telecommunications technician Mark Klein showing AT&T has routed copies of Internet traffic to a secret room in San Francisco controlled by the NSA.

“In addition to suing AT&T, we’ve now opened a second front in the battle to stop the NSA’s illegal surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans and hold personally responsible those who authorized or participated in the spying program,” said 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. 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.”

“Demanding personal accountability from President Bush, Vice President Cheney and others responsible for the NSA’s dragnet surveillance of ordinary Americans’ communications is the best way to guarantee that such blatantly illegal spying will not be authorized in the future,” said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. “Our lawsuit today should sound a clear warning to future occupants of the White House: if you break the law and violate Americans’ privacy, there will be consequences.”

The legal proceedings comes on the heals of a lawsuit against the government (namely the USTR) over keeping the infamous Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement secret in spite of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed back in June.

It’s been quite a day in the legal realm. On the same day, the RIAA sued Ray Beckerman over his blog postings.

There is excitement over this particular lawsuit though, this was made clear in a reaction over on BoingBoing. “YEEEEEE-HAW! Ride ‘em cowboys! I could not be prouder of EFF at this moment — I’m bursting with joy. I made a five-figure donation to EFF this year,” wrote Cory Doctorow, “and they’ve just earned every penny. If you want to see them take this administration to the mat, kick in a buck or two yourself.”

The warrantless wiretapping case has been an extremely controversial thing in the United States. Countless editorials have been written condemning the passage of the “Protect America Act”. Thousands of others have made their views known from when the AT&T case made it’s way into the courts all the way to the passage of the warrantless wiretapping provisions. Proponents of the legislation argue that by not requiring a warrant to wiretap anyone, it would provide the intelligence community with the necessary tools to fight terrorism.

If this lawsuit fails in the courts, it doesn’t immediately appear there would be very many options left to stop this kind of legislation. It seems that, in spite of previously attempted lawsuits (as noted by Ryan Singel of Threat Level), the EFF seems very confident that they will succeed. It will be very interesting to see this case carry though with, what appears to be, the final leg.

If a communication travels over the borders of Sweden, it can be freely tapped. Unfortunately for the Swedish, most domestic travel will likely travel over the borders in the process. The idea of being wiretapped without a court order has left many in Sweden, among other things, violated and betrayed. The common theme for many was that ‘they couped the voting‘

A small portion of the reaction can be seen on the campaign website where many appear to be frustrated over the new laws. It seems that the frustration isn’t just on a citizen level.

Earlier today, Swedish news site ‘The Local’ reported today that the youth leader of one of the parties that voted in favor of the new law has threatened to resign. Niklas Wykman, the head of the Moderate Party’s youth organization has posted the following on his blog (Google translation)

It is Midsummer and I recently returned from Israel. I could write about so much interesting but must instead write the saddest of lines. If Moderate do not change their position in the FRA law does not have the support. I can not be a member of a party that represents the idea of intercepting all svenskars e-mails and phone calls. I have thought about it since the vote and can not come to any conclusions.

Fortunately, there is still time. The government is not Moderate. Representatives are not representative of the frihetslängtande popular as our party is. Reinfeldt can now choose to initiate a conversation about the future of privacy in Sweden or losing a whole generation of young followers.

Many have already lost. E-mail, facebook, SMS inbox, everywhere, people who will never again vote for our party or get involved in our cause.

It is seriously now. Politicians and the state is usually able to get away with idiocy because the karriärsgalna staffed by people without opportunities to civilian jobs. I will never be one of them.

From The Local:

In an interview with the Politikerbloggen website, Wykman said that it’s time to correct the misstep which occurred when the Riksdag approved the new law last week.

But he failed to specify whether he would leave the party if there was no correction.

“You don’t get into a discussion based on the idea you’re going to lose,” he said.

He also criticized Moderate Party Riksdag members for representing the government rather than the party by not voting against the bill.

Just a few days ago, the Pirate Party of Sweden said that it would fight the FRA legislation by filing a complaint at the European Court of Human Rights. At this point, one might wonder why such legislation was even passed in the first place with so much discontent – even within the parties that voted in favor of the legislation.

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