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Denver Post: Nod to Nacchio for "no" to NSA
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 16:25:47 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: John Gilmore <gnu () toad com> Date: May 12, 2006 3:53:40 PM EDT To: eff-privacy () eff org Subject: [E-PRV] Denver Post: Nod to Nacchio for "no" to NSA [And in our most alliterative headline department... He also makes the point that Nacchio may argue the insider-trading case is government retaliation. If I were him, I would certainly be demanding any documents about communications between the FTC/DoJ prosecutors, and others advocating the prosecution. --John] http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_3813009 al lewis | business columnist Nod to Nacchio for "no" to NSA By Al Lewis Denver Post Staff Columnist It pains me to say this, but perhaps no telecommunications executive has done more to protect American civil liberties than Joe Nacchio - an argument that bodes well for the former Qwest CEO in his upcoming trial on insider-trading charges. Nacchio just said "no" when the U.S. National Security Agency demanded phone records of Qwest customers after the Sept. 11 attacks. Executives at AT&T Inc., BellSouth Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. did not have any such concern for customers' privacy. "We've got to give Qwest some credit for this," said Qwest customer Al Kemp, 57, of Arvada. "They actually did the right thing for a change. ... I don't like Nacchio very much, but apparently he's the one who made this decision." Nacchio reportedly stood against a trend that has members of Congress promising to call AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon executives into hearings. If you are a customer of one of these companies, a list of calls you've made over the years is now in a computer database run by government spies, according to a report in Thursday's USA Today. The Bush administration says it's all to catch al-Qaeda, but where are the checks and balances to assure this data isn't misused in the future? Steve Posner is an Evergreen lawyer and the author of a legal treatise, "Privacy Law and the USA Patriot Act." He contends the government collected this data from phone companies without a required court order. "If they got the information without rules, where are the rules for how it is treated?" he asked. "Can it be sold? Can it be distributed? ... It's conceivable this information can be used by people who are not well-disposed toward you." Good thing there are guys like Nacchio looking out for us. His successor as CEO at Qwest, Dick Notebaert, also reportedly shut the door on the NSA. Nacchio, however, may not have exactly acted out of civic altruism, said Posner.It's not clear whether the companies that provided the information to the NSA are exempt from civil lawsuits. Perhaps Qwest's legal team realized this and pushed Nacchio to say no to the NSA. "He may have just been trying to cover his company's (tail)," said Posner. But Nacchio also was chairman of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee until he was ousted from Qwest in June 2002. In Nacchio's court motions, he has indicated that he will cite his role in this capacity as part of his defense. Nacchio's attorneys have had to get security clearances to even discuss these matters with him, according to court motions. And they have to meet in what is called a "Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility," available to them only in Washington, D.C., and Denver. In these rooms, all faxes, computer keystrokes and telephone and fax transmissions are secured and isolated. Nacchio's attorneys have argued that they need more time to prepare their case because they have to fly from New Jersey to either Washington or Denver to get access to these rooms. "Tasks, which normally take hours, now require travel and instead take days, if not weeks," they wrote. I can picture Nacchio picking up his shoe-phone like a modern-day Maxwell Smart. I think more of Nacchio for telling the NSA to take a hike. But this doesn't cinch his defense against 42 counts of illegal insider trading. Perhaps news of his stand against the NSA may improve perceptions among the jury pool. Perhaps he also can argue that the insider-trading case against him is an example of government retaliation. But Qwest's $2.5 billion accounting restatement after Nacchio's tenure was not the government's doing. Nor did the government tell Nacchio to brag about Qwest's prospects as he dumped his stock. The relevant question for a jury is whether Nacchio made these trades using knowledge that only Qwest insiders would have. Apparently, Nacchio knew that the NSA was not happy with him. But it's not clear what bearing that information will have at his trial, which has not been scheduled. One thing is clear: Nacchio did something a lot of other telecommunications executives should have done too. Al Lewis' column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Respond to him at denverpostbloghouse.com/lewis, 303-820-1967 or alewis () denverpost com. ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- Denver Post: Nod to Nacchio for "no" to NSA David Farber (May 12)