more on Qwest's Refusal of N.S.A. Query Is Explained - New York Times

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jim Morris <jim.morris () west cmu edu>
Date: May 12, 2006 5:15:00 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Qwest's Refusal of N.S.A. Query Is Explained - New  
York Times

The only question is: how do I sign up for a Qwest account?

At 13:05  5/12/2006, you wrote:

> http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/washington/12cnd-phone.html? 
> hp&ex=1147492800&en=eb85158452eae01a&ei=5094&partner=homepage
>
> May 12, 2006
>
> Qwest's Refusal of N.S.A. Query Is Explained
> By JOHN O'NEIL and ERIC LICHTBLAU
>
> WASHINGTON, May 12 — The telecommunications company Qwest turned  
> down requests by the National Security Agency for private telephone  
> records because it concluded that doing so would violate federal  
> privacy laws, a lawyer for the telephone company's former chief  
> executive said today.
>
> In a statement released this morning, the lawyer said that the  
> former chief executive, Joseph N. Nacchio, made the decision after  
> asking whether "a warrant or other legal process had been secured  
> in support of that request."
>
> Mr. Nacchio learned that no warrant had been granted and that there  
> was a "disinclination on the part of the authorities to use any  
> legal process," said the lawyer, Herbert J. Stern. As a result, the  
> statement said, Mr. Nacchio concluded that "the requests violated  
> the privacy requirements of the Telecommunications Act."
>
> A Qwest spokesman, Robert Toevs, declined to discuss anything to do  
> with security issues or the statement by Mr. Nacchio's lawyer.
>
> Qwest was the only phone company to turn down requests from the  
> security agency for phone records as part of a program to compile a  
> vast database of numbers and other information on virtually all  
> domestic calls. The program's scope was first described in an  
> article published on Thursday by USA Today that led to an  
> outpouring of demands for information from Congressional  
> Republicans and Democrats. The article said that AT&T, BellSouth  
> and Verizon had agreed to provide the information to the security  
> agency.
>
> The lawyer's statement came as Gen. Michael V. Hayden, who was the  
> head of the National Security Agency at the time the program began,  
> continued to seek support today for his nomination as C.I.A.  
> director in meetings with senators on Capitol Hill.
>
> Spea..
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James H. Morris
Professor of Computer Science
Dean, Carnegie Mellon West
412 609-5000
http://west.cmu.edu
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~jhm

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