We've already started scouring newly-released documents relating to the misuse of National Security Letters to collect Americans' private information. But don't let us have all fun ? you, too, can dive into the docs and help uncover the truth about the FBI's abuse of power. All 1138 pages are freely downloadable (with searchable text) from EFF?s website, and we'll be posting a new batch every month.

We've had over 8000 downloads so far, and the blogosphere is starting to light up with feedback and analysis of the documents, which were disclosed after EFF sued the government under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) earlier this year. Over at Wired, Threat Level reports that much of the mischief at the FBI seems to be emanating from a mysterious ?Room 4944?, and this anonymous blogger is asking questions about who knew what when.

The whole point of sunshine laws like FOIA is to help the public hold the government accountable, and it's great to see individuals exercising their right to know.

EFF received these documents as the result of a FOIA request made through our FLAG project. We ask that you please mention EFF if you use these documents in any way. We're a nonprofit organization, and our funding for this project depends on showing that our work is important and relevant. For more information about these documents or EFF's FLAG project, please contact EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann at marcia(at)eff.org.