John Ashcroft's hard erect nipples

[George at Orwellian.Org]

http://computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO57039,00.html
#    
#    Brit accuses U.S. of snooping
#    
#    Europe admits it too taps corporate nets
#    
#    BY DAN VERTON (January 29, 2001) The European Parliament received 
#    a detailed report last week that contains evidence of a 10-year 
#    effort by the U.S. government to use its intelligence technology 
#    to help U.S. companies win commercial contracts. The report was 
#    by a British journalist hired by the European Parliament to 
#    investigate a global electronic eavesdropping network.
#    
#    The so-called Echelon network is run by an alliance among the 
#    U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The report 
#    came as a panel of experts testified in Europe last week that 
#    the U.S. isn't the only country plucking sensitive corporate 
#    and economic data from the Internet and airwaves.
#    
#    "I referred many times [in the report] to the fact that European 
#    countries ran satellite [signal intelligence] systems to collect 
#    intelligence," Duncan Campbell, the author of the report, told 
#    Computerworld.
#    
#    France and Germany are also known to employ modern technologies 
#    designed to collect economic intelligence that would help firms 
#    in those countries. Europeans are "open-minded and readily accept 
#    that our companies and governments - like [the U.S.]" spy, bribe 
#    and cheat on occasions, Campbell said. "The European inquiry 
#    is going ahead on that basis."
#    
#    In his study, Campbell accused Lexington, Mass.-based Raytheon 
#    Co. of receiving information from Echelon that allowed it to 
#    outbid two French firms in 1994 for a $1.4 billion contract with 
#    the Brazilian government for a system to monitor any environmental 
#    changes in the rain forests there. A Raytheon official called 
#    the charges groundless.
#    
#    "Raytheon won the [contract] because it had the best technical 
#    solution and the lowest price and best financial proposal," a 
#    company spokesman said.
#    
#    Neil MacCormick, a vice chairman of the European Parliament's 
#    special commission on Echelon, called Campbell's testimony sober 
#    and balanced. The use of Echelon, particularly its Advocacy 
#    Center, which helps U.S. businesses overcome unfair trading 
#    practices, is well documented, said MacCormick.
#    
#    "It therefore follows that some of the output of Echelon is used 
#    in contexts of economic intelligence affecting the interests 
#    of non-U.S. businesses," he said.
#    
#    "Many European nations should look into the mirror before 
#    complaining about economic espionage by other nations," said 
#    Cees Wiebes, a professor at the University of Amsterdam who 
#    testified last week before the parliament of the Netherlands.
#    
#    According to Wiebes, many Dutch multinationals - including Philips 
#    Electronics NV and Royal Dutch/Shell Group - have received 
#    intelligence gathered by the Dutch equivalent of the U.S. National 
#    Security Agency (NSA) to support construction projects at airports 
#    and seaports.
#    
#    But U.S. intelligence officials insisted that Echelon isn't used 
#    to covertly assist U.S. companies in their efforts to win 
#    contracts around the world. They said Echelon is used to uncover 
#    international fraud schemes, criminal activity and terrorist 
#    groups.
#    
#    A spokesman for the NSA, which manages the Echelon network, said 
#    the agency operates in strict accordance with U.S. laws that 
#    prohibit the agency from providing "intelligence information 
#    to private firms for their economic advantage."
#    
#    A former CIA official familiar with NSA operations who spoke 
#    on the condition of anonymity said he finds the claims of 
#    assistance to U.S. firms by the NSA hard to believe - except 
#    in cases involving specific military technologies. Campbell and 
#    the European Union are "overplaying the economic espionage aspect 
#    of Echelon," he said.
#    
#    Executives in the U.S. also discounted claims made during a 
#    European Parliament hearing last November that U.S.-produced 
#    software such as Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system 
#    contains back doors that support Echelon activities.
#    
#    Steve Lipner, manager of Microsoft's Security Response Center, 
#    said the best example of Microsoft's position on Echelon and 
#    of not allowing back doors to be implanted in its software is 
#    evident in its opposition to legislation that would require 
#    companies to share encryption keys with federal law enforcement.