Verizon's Response to NSA Surveillance

[tsai3904]

From Verizon's General Counsel to their employees:

http://i41.tinypic.com/71h549.jpg

[angelatc]

https://twitter.com/RSMilch - For Sailing and anybody else who twitters. Looks inactive though.

[Quark]

Fascism at its worst.

[talkingpointes]

From Verizon's General Counsel to their employees:

http://i41.tinypic.com/71h549.jpg

That last paragraph, first sentence is the best part of all. Heck, I feel a lot better.

[Warlord]

THE 4TH AMENDMENT IS CLEAR YOU MORONS AND THAT IS THE LAW... THE SUPREME LAW.

Tell the fascists to take HIKE!

Scumbags, all of them...

[ObiRandKenobi]

How comforting.

[HOLLYWOOD]

The second that Verizon stated, "We Have No Comment..."

Done no more business with them...

http://jokes.conservativepapers.com/files/2012/06/Fascism.jpeg (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=8PRvd4M2F9oKbM&tbnid=nCLZCz2rc0YKxM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjokes.conservativepapers.com%2F20 12%2F06%2F20%2Fobamas-vision-for-america-now-entering-fascism%2F&ei=HNywUeb1FImCiAL2y4CoDw&bvm=bv.47534661,d.cGE&psig=AFQjCNGEfczZ3fAMEreLxvKgg-AEACPv8w&ust=1370631199489233)

[Pericles]

Arbeit Macht Frei!

[Anti Federalist]

Of course they will comply.

Compliance Uber Alles.

[RickyJ]

This is really an admission of guilt. If they knew they didn't do it they would be the first to say so. No comment is the same as, "yep, we did it!"

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

if you were threatened with a bullet to the head if you did not comply, you'd hand over your company's documents too

[sluggo]

Any cell/unlimited data plans out there from providers who won't spy on me?

[RickyJ]

Any cell/unlimited data plans out there from providers who won't spy on me?

Are you trying to be funny? You want privacy, encrypt everything, including your voice communications.

[thoughtomator]

Bingo. This is an "I'm being treated well by my kidnappers" letter.

The thing is that because this is most damaging to Verizon if it appears to be specific to them - who wants to sign up for a bugged phone service? Who wants to stay with one - IF you had a choice?

Now, while he carefully describes the nature of such a national security order, what he doesn't say - "Verizon hasn't received a national security letter/court order/whatevertheycallittoday" - is the most important piece of data. He could say this if he hadn't received it - and it would be strongly in Verizon's interest to do so (this is a PR disaster for them). The fact that he doesn't say it means he can't say it, which means Verizon did get such an order and the Guardian's main claim is probably true.

[BSU kid]

Impeach the dictator!

[Reason]

If I was in charge of Verizon PR that is exactly what I would point out too, the fact that it's the government that's the problem, not the company.

Granted: companies the size of Verizon in that particular industry are all balls deep with government. Corporatism.

[Anti Federalist]

Any cell/unlimited data plans out there from providers who won't spy on me?

No.

No electronic communication is secure, period.

It is not even secure to within range of a device these days.

[Anti Federalist]

If I was in charge of Verizon PR that is exactly what I would point out too, the fact that it's the government that's the problem, not the company.

Granted: companies the size of Verizon in that particular industry are all balls deep with government. Corporatism.

You're assuming that they complied reluctantly, while publicly protesting the fact.

This is not the case.

They complied eagerly, quickly and totally, and got rewarded by the market for doing so.

It is not corporatism.

It is fascism.

[phill4paul]

You're assuming that they complied reluctantly, while publicly protesting the fact.

This is not the case.

They complied eagerly, quickly and totally, and got rewarded by the market for doing so.

It is not corporatism.

It is fascism.

Yes.

[tangent4ronpaul]

Any cell/unlimited data plans out there from providers who won't spy on me?

Sure, just sign up with anyone that is not one of the major players. But that isn't really the problem... You see, you will most likely be talking to someone that has cell service with one of the major players, or at least the traffic will usually go through a major players network... Case in point:

Discovering Shared Interests Among People
Using Graph Analysis of
Global Electronic Mail Traffic

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFUQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2 Fdownload%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.54.3045%26rep%3Drep1%26ty pe%3Dpdf&ei=N0uxUYmzIPfd4AOu84GYCQ&usg=AFQjCNGxj2h3my6MEv1wv-R5_7XvkwKfzg&sig2=qF7wcH-SLwA9Z8-tynVlWQ&bvm=bv.47534661,d.dmg

Our approach deduces interests from the history of
electronic mail communication, using a set of heuristic graph algorithms. We demonstrate the algorithms by applying
them to data collected from 15 sites for two months. Using these algorithms we were able to deduce shared
interest lists for people far beyond the data collection sites.

-t

[Debbie Downer]

Does anyone really expect a telecoms company to not comply, lose their spectrum and have their employees potentially go to jail?

[jtstellar]

while it's true companies aren't as guilty as government, it's also job of customers to let it be known to companies that they do not want their data compromised with government requests, or else these companies will suffer financial consequences.

at least companies will exhaust greater degree of options to avoid those compliance, even if it won't work on all occasions all the time, rather than just falling over and giving government whatever it wants. therefore, customer blowback against these companies are not only justified, it's imperative. to remind people issues of government overreach is well intended and good, but otherwise i don't know what these sympathetic tones are for by some here who appear to be on the side of these companies. certainly no one is saying we should tax these companies to punish them or anything. if no foul is attempted, why the preemptive defense

[thoughtomator]

while it's true companies aren't as guilty as government, it's also job of customers to let it be known to companies that they do not want their data compromised with government requests, or else these companies will suffer financial consequences.

The unsurveilled package you are looking for is not available in your country on national security grounds - the chances that this is only affecting Verizon are basically zero.

[DamianTV]

That last paragraph, first sentence is the best part of all. Heck, I feel a lot better.

Their definition is to block out "small timers" like you or me, but they believe there is nothing we can do, nor should be able to do, to stop "the big boys" from looking at all that data on everyone.

Privacy only applies to Mundanes going after other Mundanes.

[DamianTV]

Does anyone really expect a telecoms company to not comply, lose their spectrum and have their employees potentially go to jail?

I fully expect that a Govt by the People does not twist and threaten businesses in that city / country / state to commit abuses against its own People.

---

Edit: Actually, I think that my resonse is unfair. Let me ask you this. Do you believe that the Govt actually tells Corporations what to do, or do Corporations tell the Govt what to do? In the case of the latter, they tell the Govt we have zero expectation of Privacy so that they can sell all this data they collect on us turning us into the product or service that "they" produce.

[jllundqu]

Mussolini was right... fascism is alive and well in 'murica!

[Pericles]

if you were threatened with a bullet to the head if you did not comply, you'd hand over your company's documents too

The company's premises are a gun free zone!