Qwest To The NSA: Put Up Or Shut Up

[Robbien]

When the NSA asked all the telcos to participate in its apparently illegal campaign to create a database of every call ever made in the U.S., only one stood up to the federal snoopers --- Qwest. The company refused to turn over customer information unless it first received a warrant. Qwest customers are safe, because no warrant was ever produced.

http://techsearch.cmp.com/blog/archives/2006/05/qwest_to_the_ns.html?loc=networking_and_telecom

Hey ATT & Verizon, show us the warrants you received.

[Dave Reynolds]

1. "NSA? What is this NSA of which you speak?"

I hear that this is a very common answer from AT&T today.

[Robbien]

5. The answer: NSA is the guy who has your CEO

peeing in his undies and hiding under bedcovers.

[Selatius]

2. If I was the PR czar at Qwest, I'd advertise this fact loud and clear.

Part of doing business is building up customer goodwill and trust in your business. Letting Big Brother violate your customer base is not the way to do it.

[this_side_up]

7. Unless their refusal is a marketing ploy because their stock

keeps going down and they are upside down liabilities v assets.

[SIU_Blue]

3. good for them.

unfortunately they are 67% red in terms of donations (buyblue.org).

Still, it's exactly what should have been done by all of these phone companies.

[C_U_L8R]

4. Hooray for Qwest

I hope some other corporations take note
of how to stand up to a corrupt regime.

Just say NO... FUCK NO !!!

[Pavulon]

6. Qwest, haha

Started by conservative railroad billionare Philip Anschutz. Bramford speculated Qwests fibre network was initially funded for DOD private use.

All telecoms cooperate with the NSA.

[PSPS]

8. The old Bell System would have never played along with this

Qwest used to be US West, which was formed as a "Baby Bell" after the 1983 divestiture order from the old AT&T units of Mountain Bell, Pacific Northwest Bell, and Northwestern Bell. Back in those days, there would have been no way the government would have dared approach AT&T with such a request. The Bell System was fanatic about its customers' privacy.

(The "AT&T" being bandied about today is not the AT&T of old, which ceased to exist last year when SBC acquired the name.)