Verizon says phone record disclosure is protected free speech

[ChamberedRound]

Thought this might be interesting to some folks here. From Ars Technica:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...ee-speech.html

Verizon says phone record disclosure is protected free speech

By Nate Anderson | Published: May 07, 2007 - 01:48PM CT

Verizon is one of the phone companies currently being sued over its alleged disclosure of customer phone records to the NSA. In a response to the court last week, the company asked for the entire consolidated case against it to be thrown out—on free speech grounds.

The response also alleges that the case should be thrown out because even looking into the issue could violate state secrets, of course, but a much longer section of the response tries to make the case that Verizon has a First Amendment right to "petition" the government. "Based on plaintiffs' own allegations, defendants' right to communicate such information to the government is fully protected by the Free Speech and Petition Clauses of the First Amendment," argue Verizon's lawyers.

Essentially, the argument is that turning over truthful information to the government is free speech, and the EFF and ACLU can't do anything about it. In fact, Verizon basically argues that the entire lawsuit is a giant SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) suit, and that the case is an attempt to deter the company from exercising its First Amendment right to turn over customer calling information to government security services.

"Communicating facts to the government is protected petitioning activity," says the response, even when the communication of those facts would normally be illegal or would violate a company's owner promises to its customers. Verizon argues that, if the EFF and other groups have concerns about customer call records, the only proper remedy "is to impose restrictions on the government, not on the speaker's right to communicate."

With all of the phone company cases consolidated into one master case, Verizon is hoping to have the case thrown out on free-speech grounds, putting an end to its legal troubles over the issue. Should it fail, the Bush administration is already preparing to ask Congress for retroactive immunity for all telecommunications companies that assisted the government after September 11, 2001. The government is also fighting hard in court on behalf of the phone companies, filing repeated briefs which claim that "state secrets" trump even the legality of the alleged security programs.

Years ago, when AT&T was a government-sanctioned monopoly, they consistently took a stand against the government infringing on their customer's rights, asking for search warrants before they turned over ANY customer information. Now that the phone companies are deregulated, they roll over and give the govt. what they want without question, and attempt to use the 1st Amendment for protection. Sickening.

Watch who you buy phone service from, and who you talk to. It's a brave new world out there, and I for one am getting a little nervous.

[KeithPA]

I can't remember what company it was, but back when this was new news a couple years ago they had a really interesting story involving a top exec. Apparantly there was a special room in one of their buildings that was used to monitor calls by the NSA and employees with clearance. Nice to know they dedicate a room to spy on us.

That's a very interesting, but retarded, argument they are making.

[ChamberedRound]

I can't remember what company it was, but back when this was new news a couple years ago they had a really interesting story involving a top exec. Apparantly there was a special room in one of their buildings that was used to monitor calls by the NSA and employees with clearance. Nice to know they dedicate a room to spy on us.

That's a very interesting, but retarded, argument they are making.

I remember the article you're talking about. It was AT&T, which gave the NSA access to their Central Office in San Francisco. This access was secure and outside of AT&T's standard monitoring control, so no one within AT&T could use the system to determine that the NSA was tapping the lines.

There are many, but here's some of the articles on the subject:
http://www.wired.com/science/discove.../2006/04/70619
http://www.wired.com/science/discove.../2006/05/70947

and here's the Electronic Frontier Foundation's FAQ on the subject:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/faq.php

The EFF is the group that brought the lawsuit against AT&T and the US Govt.

[billamj]

It should be interesting watching how this plays out. My gut feeling is that they'll get slapped down on the 1st Amendment issue but win on the state's security issue. I could be wrong, but I believe that is the way that it will go.

[SGTUSArmy]

The whole thing about NSA listening in goes all the way back to the first transoceanic telegraph line. Then AT&T gave copies of the telegraphs to the "black room" guys in NY or DC.

Read "Body of Secrets".

[The Drew]

Shouldn't we be outraged with the government over this rather than verizon???

We don't know how the government leaned on verizon to give up this info...

[billamj]

Shouldn't we be outraged with the government over this rather than verizon???

We don't know how the government leaned on verizon to give up this info...

This has been going on since long before my parents were born, I rather doubt that at this point of time there is any "leaning" involved in the least. As SGTUSArmy said read "Body of Secrets" there is much to be learned.

[SGTUSArmy]

I personally do not care if they release my phone records, listen in on my calls....etc..etc..etc..

I already signed the statements saying they could.

Besides, every phone at work has a sticker that says use constitutes consent to monitoring. The limits on what they can do with it is actually pretty strict. If you ever get a chance to read more than the NY Times/Washington Post articles, such as policy and procedures, it would be enlightening. Also look up "Intel Oversight".

[RandomTask]

I never say anything subversive anyway, and I always assume someone is listening.
For those who want true privacy, anonymous prepaid cellular on both ends is the only way to go. Change phones often.

[dnar]

I personally do not care if they release my phone records, listen in on my calls....etc..etc..etc..

I already signed the statements saying they could.

Besides, every phone at work has a sticker that says use constitutes consent to monitoring. The limits on what they can do with it is actually pretty strict. If you ever get a chance to read more than the NY Times/Washington Post articles, such as policy and procedures, it would be enlightening. Also look up "Intel Oversight".

I agree, I guess it's because I really don't have anything to hide, and I really don't care what any human being thinks of me. As long as I know the truth about myself, and I can live with that truth, I'll be ok.

Though, I do care about what God thinks of me that's for sure!