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- -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Attention in N.S.A. Debate Turns to Telecom Industry Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 06:35:58 -0800 From: Dewayne Hendricks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> References: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [Note: This item comes from reader Randy Burge. DLH] > From: Randy Burge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: February 11, 2006 6:14:52 AM PST > To: Dewayne Hendricks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Attention in N.S.A. Debate Turns to Telecom Industry > > Attention in N.S.A. Debate Turns to Telecom Industry > > By SCOTT SHANE of the New York Times > Published: February 11, 2006 > <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/11/politics/11nexus.html? > ex=1297314000&en=3218559185297985&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss> > > WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 — Though much of official Washington has been > caught up in the debate over the National Security Agency's > domestic surveillance program, one set of major players has kept a > discreet silence: the telecommunications corporations. > > Some companies are said by current and former government officials > to have provided the eavesdropping agency access to streams of > telephone and Internet traffic entering and leaving the United > States. The N.S.A. has used its powerful computers to search the > masses of data for clues to terrorist plots and, without court > warrants, zeroed in on some Americans for eavesdropping, those > officials say. > > Now the companies are in an awkward position, with members of > Congress questioning them about their role in the eavesdropping. On > Thursday two Democratic senators, Edward M. Kennedy of > Massachusetts and Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin, wrote to the > chief executives of AT&T, Sprint Nextel and Verizon, asking them to > confirm or deny a report in USA Today on Monday that said > telecommunications executives had identified AT&T, Sprint and MCI > (now part of Verizon) as partners of the agency. > > The two senators demand information that, if it exists, would be > highly classified: details of secret N.S.A. requests for help and > the number of people whose communications were intercepted. > > In a Feb. 2 reply to a similar query from Representative John > Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary > Committee, AT&T offered a careful response. The two-paragraph note > did not deny that the company was assisting the agency. > > "Without commenting in any way on press reports," wrote Wayne > Watts, AT&T's senior vice president and associate general counsel, > "let me assure you that AT&T abides by all applicable laws, > regulations and statutes in its operations and, in particular, with > respect to requests for assistance from governmental authorities." > > The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit privacy group, has > filed a class-action suit against AT&T maintaining that the > company's cooperation with the agency is violating customers' > privacy. The suit says the company is providing the N.S.A. "direct > access" to its "key domestic telecommunications facilities," but > does not offer proof. > > December's disclosure of the N.S.A. program and the corporate role > in it has trained an unusual spotlight on the extensive and secret > cooperation between the government and communications companies. > > The companies routinely assist law enforcement and intelligence > agencies with eavesdropping authorized by court warrants, a task > streamlined by a 1994 law requiring a back door for the government > in every new telephone technology. The law, called the > Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or Calea, has > created a thriving "lawful intercept" industry for technology to > make eavesdropping easier. > > But for decades such cooperation has sometimes gone further. > Federal law permits companies to intercept calls or e-mail messages > without a warrant and protects them from lawsuits if a > "certification" is provided by the attorney general or his deputies > stating that no warrant is needed. > > <snip> Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (MingW32) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFD7fr/tcdvoAezhUsRAlJsAJ44pUjCe4DT03Y3EuXJxDETYgprjACgl9Bo 05GGjbtPsRRg/KHQN4EfsQw= =GfYn -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as [email protected] To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
