John Ashcroft's hard erect nipples
George at Orwellian.Org
George at Orwellian.Org
Mon Jan 29 12:10:34 PST 2001
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.
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