Verizon to NSA: $775 first month of monitoring; $500 each additional

[presence]

AT&T charges the government an activation fee of $325 for each individual wiretap. Not to be outdone or over-bidded, Verizon offers a discounted monthly rate for the surveillance of its customers – $775 for the first month of monitoring and $500 for each additional month. Incidentally, you won't find these “spy” packages on either of the company's websites.

[]

While Microsoft and Google haven't disclosed their surveillance fees, by far the greatest deal for the NSA has been Facebook – they offer user data to the government for free.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354148#ixzz2Ylm3MILb



Google Maps Their Ass. Short on surveillance crew funding? Need some real-time video footage that can be tied to a specific geographic locale, complete with listings of the nearest Starbucks and doughnut shops, accurate to within five feet of your target? This is the package for you. Select from a variety of video and photo add-ons. “Google Maps Their Ass” so you can render (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition) them speechless!

[HOLLYWOOD]

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354148#ixzz2Ylm3MILb







AT&T also charges $10 a day for the continuance of each wiretap...


Think about that welfare on top of the billions given to TELCOs to "Distribute Communications to Ural areas" and for the so-called "POOR" WE THE TAXPAYERS... pay over and over, again and again for government "Distribution/Dissemination/Disinformation/Dissection" of America's communications.

PS: The US Banking Cabal does the same exact thing... another money maker in America's FASCIST STATE

[JoshLowry]

Modern times ain't so modern.

[ravedown]

everyone is a government contractor. you can't escape it. why can't i and other AT&T customers start a class action lawsuit for violating my privacy? im aware AT&T has the rights to the content...but can they just sell it off to the highest bidder? come on ambulance chasers..lets do this!

[HOLLYWOOD]

Let me see here for a second thought... I wonder what happens when you sell Government's private/confidential/secret information?

[Quark]

So let me get this straight. The federal government (which has no contribution to the economy of its own -- of any worth) takes my income (and the income of other Americans) and uses that money (on top of paying itself) to pay corporations whom I purchase services from to take my private information and give it to the government, because there is a very, very, very, very low chance or even no chance I'll be killed by a terrorist if they don't. How is this anything less than the fascism we've seen in the 20th century? In fact, it's worse.

[KEEF]

So got to wonder how many AT&T and Verizon lobbyists are out there?

[ravedown]

there are so many guilty players in this story that its about time the president/ bill gates or somebody come forward and explain to the public just what the fuck is going on and attempt to justify this. the MSM isn't doing their job of demanding answers...the white house press corp should be all over this story and grilling the administration at every news conf. the public is used to being fleeced...but being fleeced of tax dollars to pay crony corporations in order to spy on citizens is an all time low...the money trail is disgusting.

[Philhelm]

Modern times ain't so modern.

Indeed. At this point I'd consider settling for a just, feudal king. We'd probably have more liberty, ironically.

[Acala]

I feel safe.

[ZENemy]

So let me get this straight. The federal government (which has no contribution to the economy of its own -- of any worth) takes my income (and the income of other Americans) and uses that money (on top of paying itself) to pay corporations whom I purchase services from to take my private information and give it to the government, because there is a very, very, very, very low chance or even no chance I'll be killed by a terrorist if they don't. How is this anything less than the fascism we've seen in the 20th century? In fact, it's worse.

Yes and it will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever stop...until we stop paying them and consenting to them.

[Reason]

It's insanity causing to think about how we quadruple pay to be spied upon...

[ghengis86]

It's insanity causing to think about how we quadruple pay to be spied upon...

Yep...we're funding our own prison planet.

And people wonder why I drink so much whiskey

[moostraks]

Indeed. At this point I'd consider settling for a just, feudal king. We'd probably have more liberty, ironically.
When I watch movies or read about such time periods in history and realize how much they mirror ours despite all the so called advances we have made I am astounded at how little we have achieved in respect to freedom. We are on the precipice of being completely under the thumb of those behind the curtain and forced to comply with any command they wish to utter. It seems no command is too asinine when uttered by one in gov't costume and there are legions of believers willing to stigmatize those who find the commands preposterous.

[HOLLYWOOD]

So let me get this straight. The federal government (which has no contribution to the economy of its own -- of any worth) takes my income (and the income of other Americans) and uses that money (on top of paying itself) to pay corporations whom I purchase services from to take my private information and give it to the government, because there is a very, very, very, very low chance or even no chance I'll be killed by a terrorist if they don't. How is this anything less than the fascism we've seen in the 20th century? In fact, it's worse.

+REP... Exactly what's happening on a daily basis... don't forget the Banks/Wall St they're in on it too!

FASCIST FAHRENHEIT 451 = USA

[AlexAmore]

I thought this was gonna be an under par Onion article.

[HOLLYWOOD]

http://www.inquisitr.com/842015/att-has-100-employees-who-respond-to-government-surveillance-requests/


AT&T Has 100 Employees Who Respond To Government Surveillance Requests

http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ATT-Government-Spy-Requests-665x385.png

AT&T is currently employing 100 workers who do nothing but respond to government surveillance requests.

The requests made by government entities is a huge multi-million dollar market ripe for the taking. AT&T charges a $325 “activation fee” for each wiretap and then charges government agencies $10 per day to maintain the wiretap connection. In comparison, U.S. Cellular charges $250 per wiretap. Verizon Wireless is by far the most expensive service provider at $775 for the first month and $500 for each month following.


Wireless carrier fees for government surveillance far exceeds that of their technology counterparts. For example, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google are believed to charge around $25 per request.

AT&T (http://www.inquisitr.com/825163/smartphone-battery-life-improved-by-constant-juicing/) and other carriers say they don’t profit from the hundreds of thousands of government data requests they receive each year. Those same agencies claim that civil liberties groups want them to charge so the programs don’t become a free-for-all for government requests.
Christopher Soghoian, the ACLU’s principal technologist, tells BusinessInsider (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-business-of-surveillance-requests-2013-7):

“What we don’t want is surveillance to become a profit center, it’s always better to charge $1. It creates friction, and it creates transparency” because it generates a paper trail that can be tracked.”

As government agencies push for real-time access to instant messaging, social network, and other platforms the amount of money earned through government spying programs is likely to rapidly increase.
So much money is now spent on eavesdropping programs that the FBI isn’t sure how much it spends. Officials at the Bureau claim that payments are made through field offices, case funds, and other avenues which makes tracking payments difficult.
E
avesdropping shouldn’t come as a surprise after Congress in 1994 allotted $500 million for phone companies to retrofit their equipment to allow for digital network wiretapping.

AT&T hired 100 workers for the government surveillance program so it can review each request for validity.

Employees look over requests, ensure they are valid, and then approve or deny each request.
AT&T earns its money by charging a fee for “searching for, assembling, reproducing and otherwise providing” communications content or records.

Costs to perform searches and wiretaps must be “reasonably necessary” and “mutually agreed” upon with the government.
AT&T collected approximately $24 million in government reimbursements between 2007 and 2011.

Do you think fees for government requests should be higher to discourage rampant surveillance requests?