I know EW talked about this article before…Can’t find her post to link but here is a NYT’s article June 1st, 2007, Five Companies Win US Telecom Contract:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/f…..A9619C8B63

and this

http://www.networkworld.com/ne…..racts.html

It appears that part of the RFP is protection of transmission. I think the telecoms have a good idea of what they might be handling…

bmaz @ 97 – Encryption is not magic, and people who should know better put too much trust in crypto all the time. Further, some crypto is more equal than others. I emphasize that I have no specific knowledge in any of these cases, but there are several possibilities including but not limited to (1) Somebody goofed and used off-the-shelf secure teleconference crypto, which is breakable by folks other than the NSA including US telcos (and black site host governments or intelligence agencies); (2) Maybe US telco hoovering-up gets fed through (perhaps remote) NSA decryptor servers first, before getting stored by (perhaps) the telcos — allowing USG to say that a contractor and not the USG is doing the actual storing-and-retrieving snooping; (3) Even if NSA-quality crypto was used, international transmissions have historically passed through the NSA anyway (via ANZUS). I see no technical barriers to any of these situations producing stray copies that would eventually surface within the telcos and need to be destroyed — thus connecting to TortureTapeGate. Like with the Watergate break-in, it’s usually the human element that fails first, perhaps in this case by over-reliance on poorly understood crypto.

TheraP – Goldsmith’s book gets a bit into a body of theoretical legal work (that he himself seems to have helped develop) trying to establish the idea that any person or group that seeks to change the policy or behavior of a government using any mechanism other than elections (or I guess war) should be considered hostile actors — I haven’t read Yoo’s books, but this resonates with his title “War by Other Means”. This work started by focusing on other countries’ use of courts to change US behavior, but it seems this is now also their view of legal-system activism directed against the USG by US citizens. Two consequences: This doctrine may affect DOJ attitudes toward such cases; and if attorneys in such cases start getting disappeared, we have a strong clue why.

any thoughts on the pixie dust EO re yesterday’s pay raise for the feds? seems to be in the same boat as the budget bill.

(I too talk to people who want to go a legal route and get them to think carefully about how much stamina they have to go through a meat grinder.)

I know Yoo is a sociopath. I know he lacks empathy. But sociopaths, when cornered, really cornered, can get depressed, have a meltdown of the core narcissism within. And it’s the “fear factor” I’d be after. He may totally lack empathy for others. But he might still have fear for his own “skin.” I can’t say for sure, but that’s why I’m thinking multiple lawsuits. And I totally agree your problem is clients. (black sites, people reduced to a catatonic state)

Wish there were a way we ordinary folks could sue for the fact that these guys have drawn us into a kind of “complicity” against our will, by making this govt policy.

Ok. I accept reality.

I don’t think Yoo is normal. First, he seems to lack empathy. If he had a shred of it, he would not be able to answer questions about his extreme positions, like the power of the President to order someone to crush the testicles of a child. From what we can see, this is a common trait among the enablers of Cheney, like Addington.

Second, he is an ideologue. He doesn’t think of himself as an actor, more as a transcriber of the ideology, a medium through which its power is demonstrated. This shields him from any sense of responsibility. All he, a true believer, is doing is following the logic of his ideology to its conclusions. Even if he is held liable, it won’t matter, it will just be another example of the ignorant using illegitimate means to crush the truth.

I like the idea of multiple suits. The problem is finding clients.

I’m sure it’s possible to check. Interesting question. And more than one? Recall that Harriet Myers had “forgotten” to pay her dues (?) related to the DC bar. So perhaps he has more than one place you could complain to.

For MD’s and psychologists, there is a national registry, so if you lose your license anywhere, it gets posted there. And that dooms you!n They should have that for lawyers as well. If not… it needs to happen.