[dave at farber.net: [IP] NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls]

[coderman]

On 5/11/06, Tyler Durden <camera_lumina at hotmail.com> wrote:
> No surprise, really.

actually, there was one detail which surprised me:
"""Among the big telecommunications companies, only Qwest has refused
to help the NSA, the sources said. According to multiple sources,
Qwest declined to participate because it was uneasy about the legal
implications of handing over customer information to the government
without warrants...

According to sources familiar with the events, Qwest's CEO at the
time, Joe Nacchio, was deeply troubled by the NSA's assertion that
Qwest didn't need a court order  or approval under FISA  to
proceed...

Trying to put pressure on Qwest, NSA representatives pointedly told
Qwest that it was the lone holdout among the big telecommunications
companies. It also tried appealing to Qwest's patriotic side: In one
meeting, an NSA representative suggested that Qwest's refusal to
contribute to the database could compromise national security, one
person recalled.

In addition, the agency suggested that Qwest's foot-dragging might
affect its ability to get future classified work with the government.
Like other big telecommunications companies, Qwest already had
classified contracts and hoped to get more."""


> And of course, no one's asking what it means when NSA says they haven't
> "read" the message. Does this mean by a human?

of course. computers can't read ;)


i'm still lusting for financial full disclosure: "... The sources said
the NSA made clear that it was willing to pay for the cooperation." ,
maybe in a decade or two..