Verizon sued for $5 BILLION for giving the NSA phone records.

GuilewasNK

GuilewasNK

CAGiversary!
Feedback
110 (100%)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060512/ap_on_bi_ge/nsa_records_verizon;_ylt=A86.I1t_TWVEhoEAPwoDW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

Two New Jersey public interest lawyers sued Verizon Communications Inc. for $5 billion Friday, claiming the phone carrier violated privacy laws by turning over phone records to the National Security Agency for a secret government surveillance program.

Attorneys Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer filed the lawsuit Friday afternoon in federal district court in Manhattan, where Verizon is headquartered.

The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber.

"This is the largest and most vast intrusion of civil liberties we've ever seen in the United States," Afran said of the NSA program.

USA Today reported on Thursday that the NSA has been building a database of millions of Americans' everyday telephone calls since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Verizon, along with AT&T Corp. and BellSouth Corp., complied, the newspaper reported.

The lawsuit claims that by turning over the records to the government, Verizon violated the Telecommunications Act and the Constitution.

"No warrants have been issued for the disclosure of such information, no suspicion of terrorist activity or other criminal activity has been alleged against the subscribers," the lawsuit said.

Verizon, the country's largest telecommunications company by revenue, said in a statement that the company had not yet seen the lawsuit and, because of that, believed it was premature to comment.

The lawsuit seeks $1,000 for each violation of the Telecommunications Act, or $5 billion if the case is certified as class-action.

Afran and Mayer have filed numerous lawsuits against New Jersey officials over such things as political appointments and finances.

Afran said that he and Mayer will also ask for documents dealing with the origination of the program and President Bush's role in the program.
Verizon said that because the NSA program is highly classified, it wouldn't confirm or deny whether the company participated.

However, the company did suggest it limited access to customer records.

"Verizon does not, and will not, provide any government agency unfettered access to our customer records or provide information to the government under circumstances that would allow a fishing expedition," the company said.
Click to expand...
 
[quote name='fatmanforlife99']if your not doing nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about.[/quote]

It's about privacy, which is something that we are supposed to have. The second it's taken away it makes it easier for other liberties to be taken.
 
All I say is good. The minute that Patriot Act came out, something like this was inevitable to occur. I say these attorneys are the first two I've seen that have some real balls, and though they are after money, it will definitely put a dent into Verizon and that's where you get them; in the pocket book. Otherwise, shit like phonetapping granny can just occur at anytime and we transfer our privacy and rights as citizens and create a police state ala 1984, etc.
 
[quote name='fatmanforlife99']if your not doing nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about.[/QUOTE]

THat depends on what THEIR definition of "nothing wrong" is.
 
As with many lawyers, I'm sure they are doing this to be altruistic and defend our civil liberties and not for the $$$
 
The fact that quest refused without a warrant and the government didn't bother to get one, which would have been easy if this program was both vital and legal as the government claims, makes me think the lawsuits have a good chance.
 
[quote name='fatmanforlife99']i should say breaking the law and commiting terroist acts.[/quote]
You seem to be missing the point. The government determines what the law is as well as what terrorist acts are. That doesn't always mean the government is right. Prohibition? Segregration? Slavery? Taxation without representation? They're all 4 off-the-top-of-my-head US history examples of idiotic government made statutes/law. Admittedly, the last one was the British government but they were the 'official' government of the colonies before the Rev. War. National Prohibition took 13 years (1920 - 1933) while state-wise it took 46 years (Mississippi repealed it in 1966). Segregation took about 60 years to officially dispel. Its effects are still be felt today (via self-regulated segregation through social conditioning & discrimination). As for slavery, the US was one of the last of the modern superpowers to abolish this practice. Taxation without representation took almost 10 years (not counting the years during the American Revolution) to stop and it took a war between 2 nations to stop it. It's far easy to take away your rights as a private citizen once you define what aren't your rights. One thing you've gotta keep in mind is if you don't remember your history, you're doomed to repeat it. It's a trite cliche but only because what it says is true and follows conventional logic. Unfornately, human beings hardly listen to what is true & defying logic.
 
[quote name='fatmanforlife99']if your not doing nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about.[/QUOTE]

So, using your logic, the government can out cameras in every room in your house, right?
 
[quote name='fatmanforlife99']if your not doing nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about.[/QUOTE]

I think that, your overt embracement of gluttony aside, you're completely oblivious to what it means to be an American.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']I think that, your overt embracement of gluttony aside, you're completely oblivious to what it means to be an American.[/quote]

Give the guy a break, he doesn't even know what gluttony means. That's too high a vocabulary word. You should type simple words so he'll understand what you're talking about.:lol:
 
I work for BellSouth, and just heard about this yesterday. We got sooooooooooooo many calls bitching us out about this. Threatening to cancel service, etc. etc. blah blah.

It's understandable though, it violates CPNI guidelines really badly. In fact it's a clear violation of it. They won't even let me bring in a cell phone to work because of privacy issues, but the company is already selling the info anyway? Psh. Jerks.
 
[quote name='jaykrue']You seem to be missing the point. The government determines what the law is as well as what terrorist acts are. That doesn't always mean the government is right. Prohibition? Segregration? Slavery? Taxation without representation? They're all 4 off-the-top-of-my-head US history examples of idiotic government made statutes/law. Admittedly, the last one was the British government but they were the 'official' government of the colonies before the Rev. War. National Prohibition took 13 years (1920 - 1933) while state-wise it took 46 years (Mississippi repealed it in 1966). Segregation took about 60 years to officially dispel. Its effects are still be felt today (via self-regulated segregation through social conditioning & discrimination). As for slavery, the US was one of the last of the modern superpowers to abolish this practice. Taxation without representation took almost 10 years (not counting the years during the American Revolution) to stop and it took a war between 2 nations to stop it. It's far easy to take away your rights as a private citizen once you define what aren't your rights. One thing you've gotta keep in mind is if you don't remember your history, you're doomed to repeat it. It's a trite cliche but only because what it says is true and follows conventional logic. Unfornately, human beings hardly listen to what is true & defying logic.[/quote]Actually, the colonies did have representation. I know this because I just got done with a US history class. The reason it didn't work was because they were all they across the Atlantic and didn't really realize what was going on back home, due to long wait times for information (sailing takes a long time). I'm pretty sure Benjamin Franklin was one of those representatives. Just thought I would mention it.

As for this story, I hope that they win the law suit. Hopefully this will send all companies a message.
 
[quote name='XxFuRy2Xx']Actually, the colonies did have representation. I know this because I just got done with a US history class. The reason it didn't work was because they were all they across the Atlantic and didn't really realize what was going on back home, due to long wait times for information (sailing takes a long time). I'm pretty sure Benjamin Franklin was one of those representatives. Just thought I would mention it.[/quote]

I knew that. It was a logistic impossibility given the technology at the time. That's why I put quotes around the word official. Re-read my post again.
 
[quote name='jaykrue']I knew that. It was a logistic impossibility given the technology at the time. That's why I put quotes around the word official. Re-read my post again.[/quote]I did, you used the word official in reference to the British government. Had you put it somewhere near the representation part, then I wouldn't have bothered to point it out.
 
[quote name='fatmanforlife99']if your not doing nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about.[/quote]
My sentiments exactly. In fact, I think we need to take it a bit further, though. Credit card companies and banks should be made to submit a record of everybody's financial transactions. ISPs should be made to submit a record of every website you've ever visited. Police should perform random searches on cars and homes and people should be polygraphed periodically. If you're not doing anything wrong you've got nothing to worry about.
 
[quote name='jaykrue']Give the guy a break, he doesn't even know what gluttony means. That's too high a vocabulary word. You should type simple words so he'll understand what you're talking about.:lol:[/quote]


your the person that brings this forum down and gives it a bad name. you got a serious problem, get a life and stop trying to be cool making fun of other people on the forums. Pull that crap to me to my face and i will kick your ass.
 
seriousbusiness.jpg
 
This whole thing has really hurt BellSouth. I just got home from work and allllllllll daayyyyyyyy long I had people cancelling service plans, etc. How stupid of them to sell this information.
 
[quote name='fatmanforlife99']your the person that brings this forum down and gives it a bad name. you got a serious problem, get a life and stop trying to be cool making fun of other people on the forums. Pull that crap to me to my face and i will kick your ass.[/quote]
Aww, did I hurt your feelings? You think you could kick my ass? I hope you can get off the couch first. :lol: Crying over the internet? A Wii-nner is you! When you offer a reasonable opinion instead of being pissy, then I might treat you with some respect. I hate it when people make groundless assessments such as "If you're not doing anything wrong, then you have nothing to worry about." You have yet to refute the points I make in my post. I haven't heard your validation for Prohibition, segregation, slavery, or taxation without representation. Every other person in this thread has offered their opinion within a reasonable degree of logic. Please, explain how it was beneficial to citizens under any of those particular events. I suppose you could make a case for Prohibition, I mean all it was trying to do was to get people to stop drinking. Of course. But why was drinking not allowed yet smoking is? What about excessive fatty foods? Why not create a law banning all fatty foods and anyone who eats them should go to jail? Oh, I know. What about segregation? Let's escort all the blacks, jews, asians and put'em in reservations. They're not human beings anyway. Oh, let's include people who are fat also since they obviously can't take care of themselves. I know how about we make them all slaves? Then they can work the fat off. Those plantation owners made it work so why couldn't the government? Or how about we tax all the fatty foods so that it'll cost an arm & a leg just to go to McDonalds. That'll fix everything. After, since you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to worry about right?

And you're lucky I'm not pedantic enough to go grammar nazi on your ass.

[quote name='XxFuRy2Xx']I did, you used the word official in reference to the British government. Had you put it somewhere near the representation part, then I wouldn't have bothered to point it out.[/quote]
Yes, I used the word 'official' for the British government because that's essentially what, in the eyes of British, was the legitimate governing body. In that particular post, I make no mention of its viability (read: effectiveness) as an institution. Since the British supported virtual representation using 1 Parliament member as the collective colonies representative, none of the individual colonies issues could be heard. Also, having one colonial representative would be equally as bad since it would take months in order enact laws, taxation, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top