April 6-8, 2006: AT&T Demands Whistleblower Return ‘Confidential’ Documents, Maintain Public Silence

AT&T issues a set of demands to whistleblower and former AT&T technician Mark Klein (see December 15-31, 2005 and July 7, 2009), who is providing evidence and documentation to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) for that organization’s lawsuit against AT&T (see December 31, 2005 and January 31, 2006). AT&T claims Klein’s documentation, which he procured while working for the company, is “confidential and proprietory” information which he should never have publicly disclosed (see Late March - April 4, 2006 and April 6, 2006). The documentation, AT&T claims, is “extremely sensitive in nature and could be used to compromise the integrity of AT&T’s network.” The firm demands the return of the original documents and all copies, and tells Klein to “refrain from discussing or otherwise disclosing your sealed declaration,” referring to the declaration he has made for the lawsuit (see February 23-28, 2006). AT&T sends similar demands to the EFF, and makes a court filing requesting that EFF turn over its documents to the firm. In response, Klein’s lawyers, Miles Ehrlich and Ismail “Izzy” Ramsey (see Early February 2006), decide that they need the assistance of an experienced civil lawyer, and retain James Brosnahan, the veteran trial lawyer who once represented “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh (see December 3-5, 2001). Klein, with the approval of his lawyers, sends a letter to the EFF explaining that AT&T’s threats and demands are “intended to dazzle ignorant people who know nothing about technical matters.” In his letter, he accuses AT&T of either being genuinely ignorant or “feign[ing] ignorance” about the content of his technical documents. The technical documents he possesses, he says, are not confidential nor proprietory, nor are they related to AT&T’s telephone services, as the firm has claimed. Nothing in the documents could be used to compromise the integrity of AT&T’s networks. Klein says that the addition of the splitters to eavesdrop upon and copy over the electronic communications of American citizens (see Late 2003 and March 29, 2006) has already “compromised the integrity of AT&T’s network.” Klein goes on to note that AT&T does not deny colluding with the government to spy on Americans’ communications, instead it says that the documents Klein possesses do not clearly prove that collusion. In conclusion, Klein writes, AT&T is using specious claims of “trade secrets” infringement and false assertions about the nature and content of Klein’s documents to challenge their acceptability in court. Klein meets with his lawyers to discuss their response to the AT&T demands, and after the lawyers warn him of the possible ramifications of fighting such a large corporation and the government at once, Klein insists he wants to press forward. Brosnahan tells Klein, “My grandfather would be proud of me for taking this on,” and promises, “Don’t worry, Mark, we won’t let you hang out there to dry.” Klein later writes that Bresnahan “was as good as his word.” After Brosnahan meets with the AT&T lawyers on April 10, the firm will withdraw its demands against Klein and EFF. Klein will later write: “[I]f they sued me we would get the right of discovery in court, and that was the last thing they wanted. They only wanted to get out of court.” [New York Times, 4/12/2006; Wired News, 4/12/2006; Klein, 2009, pp. 67-70]