This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
The NSA, AT&T And The Secrets Of Room 641A
Our final observation on the matter of the US government, no longer accountable to anyone, and treating its citizens as indentured debt serfs who are entitled to precisely zero privacy rights, comes from Stephen Wolfson and "The NSA, AT&T And The Secrets Of Room 641A."
It is an impartial view of what is really going on in the world of communication surveillance. The reality is that while the NSA, which is a public entity through and through, is allowed and expected to do whatever its superiors tell it (i.e., the White House), how does one justify the complete betrayal of their customers by private corporations such as Verizon and AT&T? This may be the most insidious and toxic symbiosis between the public and private sector in the recent past. Because if private telecom corporations are willing to bend all the rules when it comes to the US government, just what do all the other companies operating in the US have to do to appease first the Bush and now the Obama administrations?
From the paper:
This note discusses the possible existence of a domestic surveillance/data collection program conducted by the National Security Agency (“NSA”) with the assistance of AT&T, and the implications of such a program under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”). This article first examines a May 11, 2006 USA Today article reporting that the NSA was given access to a huge number of call records from AT&T. Next, it turns to the story of former AT&T technician Mark Klein and the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s (“EFF”) case, Hepting v. AT&T Corporation. Klein claims that the NSA has built a “secret room” in AT&T’s San Francisco switching center that grants the agency access to a vast amount of customer information. In Hepting, the EFF alleges that AT&T violated the Stored Communications Act, Title II of the ECPA; the Wiretap Act, Title I of the ECPA; and the Pen Register Statute, Title III of the ECPA. Finally, this article addresses the Protect America Act of 2007 and provides analysis of expert opinions in the field.
Room 641A:
Room 641A is located in the SBC Communications building at 611 Folsom Street, San Francisco, three floors of which were occupied by AT&T before SBC purchased AT&T. The room was referred to in internal AT&T documents as the SG3 [Study Group 3] Secure Room. It is fed by fiber optic lines from beam splitters installed in fiber optic trunks carrying Internet backbone traffic and, as analyzed by J. Scott Marcus, a former CTO for GTE and a former adviser to the FCC, has access to all Internet traffic that passes through the building, and therefore "the capability to enable surveillance and analysis of internet content on a massive scale, including both overseas and purely domestic traffic." Former director of the NSA’s World Geopolitical and Military Analysis Reporting Group, William Binney, has estimated that 10 to 20 such facilities have been installed throughout the nation.
The room measures about 24 by 48 feet (7.3 by 15 m) and contains several racks of equipment, including a Narus STA 6400, a device designed to intercept and analyze Internet communications at very high speeds.
The very existence of the room was revealed by a former AT&T technician, Mark Klein, and was the subject of a 2006 class action lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation against AT&T.[5] Klein claims he was told that similar black rooms are operated at other facilities around the country.
Room 641A and the controversies surrounding it were subjects of an episode of Frontline, the current affairs documentary program on PBS. It was originally broadcast on May 15, 2007. It was also featured on PBS's NOW on March 14, 2008. The room was also covered in the PBS NOVA episode "The Spy Factory".
Much more can be read about Room 641A in Wired Magazine.
Full paper below (pdf link)
»
- 36648 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
+5ESS
So the surveillance story is an obvious plant for totalitarianism.
Senate "Leaders" Say NSA Data Gatheting is Routine.
Saxby Chambliss: "to my knowledge, we have not had any citizen who has registered a complaint"
Dianne Feinstein: "terrorsits will come after us if they can, and the only thing that we have to deter this is good intelligence"
Lindsey Graham: "an individual has nothing to worry about, they have to prove to a judge that there's probable cause that you're involved in terrorism". (that's already complete bullshit.
John McCain (the treasonous liar): "obviously they're trying to track bad people then I think there's legitimacy to it, but is there sufficient oversight?"
Richard Durbin: acknowledges that senators were aware of the program "it's been extremely difficult because it is classified information. Now that it's been publicly disclosed there will be more conversation". Implying that your elected representative can't tell you what's going on because the executive branch said so. But now that the cat's out of the bag, there can be a discussion about it.
Johnny Isakson: "I never voted intentionally for any bill that would grant blanket authority to then just monitor every phone call of every American citizen". No, you didn't. The language was so vague that executive branch argued that it could before the judicial branch that you gave it authority to do so. See how that works? Laws are not laws. They're outlines for the outrageous.
Saxby Chambliss: "to my knowledge, we have not had any citizen who has registered a complaint"
... proving he's a know-nothing goober.
Some citizens already filed a fucking LAWSUIT against surveillance ... which was dismissed because they couldn't prove they were targets.
Fuck you, Saxby Chambliss. Lick on this, boy.
Look on the bright side peeps,
Heres four British members attending this years Bilderbergers meeting of the self pro-claimed and 'Masters in Their Own Eyes' 'Elites',
Edward Balls, google this thick cunt,
Peter Mandelson, google this nefarious thick cunt,
Gideon Osbourne, google this fucking in-bred imbecile cunt at your own lesuire,
David Cameron, google this fucking PR trained fucking clown cunt if you can stomach it.
The point of this is this, if this is the best and brightest, the top level of political achievement these green and pleasant lands have to offer the world as a whole, speaking on our behalf and pointing the way forward in a world troubled by turmoil and debt, we have fucking nothing to worry about folks, if this is a meeting of great minds, I am at a loss at what mankind really is capabale of, for if these four fucking downright stupid cunts are the answer, then its down to us to give them the problem.
There isnt one of these four criminals in shit suits I would let look after my dog. Never mind the fucking economy.
Be afraid pig men, be very afraid.
Just dutifull employees summoned by their bosses, Inthemix.
Direct your anger at the real enemies, not the trained monkeys.
How is the weather over there ?
Same as ever Winston, shit, cold and wet.
Dont worry mate, I am well aware of the fuckers who run the show, and I'm not the only one, as you can imagine.
Mind we have had two days of warmth and sunshine this week, mon, tues, but after nine months of downright shit weather it didnt really cheer me up.
Best to you and yours mate. 96
At least you've a warmish, wet, and shit summer coming.
Pissing with rain here,but about 80F.
Best to you and yours also.
I despise all those four - Mandelson especially, I suspect he is by far the most dangerous and has some unseen friends with serious clout. He was fired from 2 ministerial jobs for lying to parliament. On one occasion he was found to have made false financial statements in obtaining a mortgage. He then turns up immediately as a fucking EU commisioner - THE perfect place to collect bribes and backhanders. Since landing that role he seems to have become extremely wealthy - beyond even the massive tax free for life renumeration the EU commisars award themselves.
He is now on the payroll of Lazard Brothers in London - where hillariously he is some sort of non exec director with a brief to monitor ETHICS - one simply could not make it up.
Rumour has it he has similar tastes to Jimmy Saville when it comes to the ages of his sexual partners, but apparently he is a same sex predator. Seriously sick, dangerous and creepy. I hope he pisses off the wrong Russian, and saves somebody else a chore.
Look into the Chair Mandelson just took up (FT) He's fronting for some heavy Ruskies, allegedly, allegedly, allegedly. (Triple cover-your-ass on that one)
Also - he wears a Red Coat. He's a performer, not anything higher.
It was an odd walk right from the start. From nowhere, like something from a dream, a distinguished lady, dressed from top to toe in white, whooshed serenely past security and swanned to the front of the power walkers.
No one recognised her or has seen her since. She had an other-worldy quality; I half expected her to be leading them to Charon's boat, or up a stairway formed of clouds. [Guardian 2011]
10612 of 10613 of the most sensitive words or phrases picked up by the secret services appear on any given day in a run of the mill Z/H post and reply session.
The missing phrase is " In Government We Trust "
Seriously, the government couldn't find its ass using two hands and a map and a GPS. The only reason it survives is because it holds a gun to our head and says "pay up" - but even that is not enough, so it goes deeply in debt and you know that can't go on forever....Washington, D.C. what a joke and to think they give those imbeciles nukes - OMG.....
Hey, NSA - bite me....
I'm all for State's rights now that the Federal Government is trying to kill me.
The state will act the same.
Even Erich Mielke would be proud of the USA.
Diane Feinstein says: nuthin new here, move along. And hey, if it's good enough for that oath breaking, corrupt swine it's good enough for me.
The feminist movement gives every woman the equal opportiunity to be a cunt.
Elected office also seems to give fabulous business opportunities to one's spouse!
Holy Shit! Does this mean the NSA knows I read ZH?
"WASHINGTON—The top lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee sought to tamp down the uproar over revelations that the National Security Agency swept up millions of Verizon telephone records, reminding their colleagues that Congress has approved laws granting the NSA authority to do exactly that."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/06/06/congress-nsa-phon...
Congress considers it no different than their right to trade on insider information.
The Game.
G0T
This ain't gonna mean shit when every fucking person and their dog starts talking about going after the globalists.
The masses won't go after anybody... They'll make sure to keep the beer/wings and football flowing; keep 'em fat n' happy.
Besides, if it did happen, 2/3 of the population can't physically achieve it (too fat).
Do I have this right? The AP gets all in a twist, but it turns out the government has the same information for most everybody for years?
Room 641A is where they take the Martians and other aliens from Area 51 for assimilation into the collective.
This room they speak of...it is in every city and state in the country. I don't mean figuratively either.
True story follows:
As a young pup in Infromation Systems, my first job was with a company called SunCom (soon to be devoured by The Death Star AT&T).
One day I got a call from my boss down in Mississippi (Jackson, of all places was a Mecca for infant telecom wannabes at the time) who told me a package had arrived for me at the dock and I was to drop everything and get it and take it into the "switch" room (glorified datacenter) and to call him once I unpacked it. I did. It was a Cisco 1U router. He sent me the config files and info on how it was to be wired to the rest of the network. It was easy, because it had only two interfaces. One DIRECTLY to the main mobile Errisson switch that all the towers feed to and one to a dedicated T1 straight to THE MAN, himself.
I immediately asked what the fuck? The response from my manager was "Lawful Intercept. Complete bullshit. Look it up, smart guy. And a warm welcome to 1984".
I did look it up and it was and is repugnant to everything the Constitution was ever conceived to stand for. Criminal nightmare.
There was no management/monitoring/logging on our side. We had zero login credentials on this Cisco router. Ostensibly, at the time, you needed a warrant to get on it, and boy howdy did those warrants roll out of the fax on the GMs desk, so at least they pretended to be somewhat "lawful" at the time. Bet you my FEMA pass they don't bother with the warrents anymore. Bet you my spot on the water boarding table not a single person still employed there knows what the box even does! They could get on and spook up a strorm any time, even then. We had no way of knowing then or now, because we weren't in the loop.
This is was my wake up call. Loud and clear.
Every POP and Switch in every single city and state has one, its the law dontcha know.
Of course, if you are not doing anything wrong you have absolutely nothing to worry about, I promise. And Holder promises he won't climax in your law abiding mouth either, bitchez.
Also, note that if you search engine Lawful Intercept, the second result gladly tells you it wouldn't be possible without our fellow citizens at Cisco Systems. When the revolution comes, they earned their spot against the wall right next to AT&T and the rest of these happy assholes. Just like FEMA camp ID tatts wouldn't be possible without the wonderful and loving IBM. You'd be hard pressed to find a single CORP that hasn't totally sold your ass out in some way, either explicitly or implicitly. Neither lets them off the hook on my score card.
To Tyler and My Zerohedge Family...
I started a petition on Change.org regarding the unconstitutional and arbitrary seizure of our phone records by the NSA. I offer it here for you to sign and I would ask Tyler and the rest of the ZH family to help collect signatures or repost it where it will get some exposure.
Thanks. http://thecivillibertarian.blogspot.com/2013/06/tired-of-government-rout...
I'd offer a friendly amendment to the petition as I also feel that the following in none of the Hydras beezwax:
My power usage and habits via Smartmeter/Smartgrid
My email exchanges
My Internet purchases
The porn I choose to spank to
The sites I chose to visit as a whole
The amount of money I choose to withdraw
The amount of radiation I'd like to be exposed to via scanners
What my old ladies boobs look like via same scanners
Having my nuts groped by "opting out" of the above.
Shit, I'm sure ill have more later.
On the TSA issue, I encourage every mofo here to opt out every single time. Make em work for their jollies and their crime. Put the crime on display for all to see. Don't let them skate by with the scanners. There is an off chance that some other muppet in line will see someone getting illegally groped and hassled for no reason and it might plant a seed in an otherwise dormant mind.
Edit: oh yeah, thought of another doozie. I'd like an attorney, a phone call and a trial before my drone strike.
Hehe,
I tell em I can't take my shoes off and make em kneel down and swab my shoes.
Fucks up the line and pisses them all off.
Hfr EBG-13. Fb ybj grpu naq byq ab bar haqrefgnaqf vg nal ybatre rkprcg byq unpxref.
..-. ..- -.-. -.- / -.-- --- ..- / -. ... .-
http://morsecode.scphillips.com/jtranslator.html
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/welcome-to-the-bush-obama-white-...
"Shiting and jerking off on the Constitution"
Fixed it
Wonder whatever happened to Jeff Gannon?
Room 641A is reading my thoughts right now and relaying them to Obama's teleprompter - I'm wrapping my head in Aluminum foil to defer
They should of been listening to MARVIN BUSH and his buddies on 9/11
an image right of Distopia's central casting
http://www.google.com/maps?ll=37.784747,-122.396144&spn=0.004367,0.01056...
Terrorist plot thwarted by NSA is revealed.....
.....Tea Party org was going to have a 4th of July fireworks display. IRS investigates as well. More at 11.
Telecomms spend millions lobbying Politicians - when the government asks for this information they simply can't say 'no' because that would eliminate any benefits of lobbying.
Rushkoff:
I agree with Rushkoff.....as bad as it is, this is really just a HUGE moonlanding to all of us.
Sadly, I feel the same way he does....despite like him, giving a fuck about it. But A) the majority of Americans really don't, B) Our "leaders" know that and C) We cant change it anyways unless we all become millionaires becasuse the people who run the show only listen to those with money.
Despair, personified.
I tend to be a bit more concerned with blind and obedient "citizens of the state" (ie my neighbors, my coworkers, etc.) turning me in than the generally incompetent state itself.
Maybe Alex Jones is not so crazzeee after all.
Thik ur komper is dat schmardt? Try reading this:
Miss on you pister, you ain't so muckenfuch. Go in your own jack yard and back off!!
With all the bucks spent on these systems perhaps they'll get the goods on one bankster somtime soon just to show us how it all works.
Nothing new here, they have been tapping the phone lines for the last 30 years at least!!! Be more concerned about the NSA data center going online in the west and the "oh by the way DOD and DARPA have fucking quantum computers bitchez!!!" The next game is afoot and the average folk know nothing, it is what it is... Life goes on in the hologram.
US Telecommunications Act of 1996 - Title VII, Section 702
If the United States were a TV series I believe it would be said that this episode of the United States has "jumped the shark"
Fuck you NSA and the evil aliens that ram you ass nightly!!!