Comments on: Telecoms deny illegally handing over call records

Two biggest phone companies in U.S. say they never improperly provided call records to National Security Agency.

[marileev]

privacy-not for the telecoms

So the telecoms violate the First and Fourth Amendments, now they're not only denying it, some like AT&T are trying to keep the public in the dark - http://www.iwantmyess.com/?p=60

At least the news orgs like CNet are keeping us informed http://news.com.com/News+sites+fight+to+keep+spying+hearing+open/2100-1030_3-6073213.html?tag=nefd.top

The telecoms cooperation with the NSA showed they didn't value customer privacy, so why should the big telecoms be granted the privacy denied its customers?

Looking forward to the news.com telecom coverage.

If another attack comes....

If there's another attack, I hope the folks at CNET, their fellow 'journalists', and members of the vitriolic left dont start ranting about the Bush administration not 'connecting the dots' to prevent it in time.

[scdecade]

Yeah OK

Thank you for the hackneyed 'betamax' nonsensical paranoid point of view. Of course, someone was going to chime in with it. Now we've got it. Thanks.

During congressional hearings about 9/11 it came out that the FBI knew about pilots in training, threats to use airliners to hit buildings, al Queda in the US, etc. etc. etc. The major government defense was "we didn't know the actual flight numbers." Hey, how could they've done anything without the flight numbers?

So now it makes sense to give massive amounts of information 99.999999999999999% of which is not related to terrorist activity to the same government agencies? Of course, they'll spot the trend in the data this time. Brahahaha... Ridiculous.

To all those gullable paranoid folks who think the government will save them from themselves: start digging your bomb shelter now and spare the rest of us a lifetime (however abbreviated by terrorist activity) of pointless grief.

The word-smithing in this article is so comically and governmentally inept it's almost humourous. "We didn't give it to them" = "We showed them where it was and how to take it and then we left them alone in the data center for 6 hours."

[Jackson Cracker]

Why not?

Isn't "connecting the dots" the excuse that was used to
collect all this private information in the first place?

[heystoopid]

Difficult case to defend against!

A difficult case for the telecoms to defend against, since the communication privacy act 1986, is very specific, and the Patriot Act letters of information demand by the FBI can only be applied on an individual case by case basis with prohibition clause, and must be personally signed by the director or agent(facsimile signature reproduction is prohibited by law)(the Constitution and it's amendments prevent the law from illegal fishing)

As for the limiting tort laws, they do not apply as the amount of the fine to be levied is specified by the 1986 law, and is thus mutually exclusive!, so in effect the Verizon class action suit is civilian lawyers doing the government prosecutor's(Gozales' is totalling failing to uphold and defend all the laws enacted here, as required by his oath in office!!!!) job for a fee , so as to speak!!!!!

Oh well, we live in interesting times, where democracies in the west as we know it, are de evolving to mimic Joseph Stalin's Pre WWII Soviet Union or George Orwell's parody novell 1984 and/or return to an absolute dictatorship by a stagnant self chosen limited elite, to create the illusion of a safe modern society, with zero rights and freedoms!

As for death at the hand of the ever elusive terrorist of the type manufacted by our dear leaders or wannabe dictators/ruling for life monarchs(power corrupts absolutely unfortunately, which is why we have in theory limited term democratic elections)! That particular myth can be easily dispelled, by viewing the annual preventable death statistic's available in this modern world, and it will show where the real problems lie, eg 1.2 million people world wide are killed in motor vehicle collisions(100,000 in mainland china alone!), and the list goes on!

Choices, blindly follow our dear leaders path to self destruction, or think for yourself and say No to any more lies or their ever elusive self created illusions!!

Sadly there are those amongst us, that will always remain the ever faithful blind lap dog followers, oblivious to the obvious, and ever willing to abuse all fellow citizens, in the name of defending the regime elite from all, including the countries own citizens!