Re: BEST LAW MONAY CAN BUY -- Senate votes Telecom immunity

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Jim Warren [jwarren () well com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 9:35 PM
To: David Farber
Cc: DV Henkel-Wallace
Subject: [IP] Re:   BEST LAW MONAY CAN BUY --  Senate votes Telecom immunity

> From: DV Henkel-Wallace <gumby () henkel-wallace org>
> ...
> Although the companies are accused of venality, I consider it
> unlikely because the were almost certainly not making a profit on
> the deal, but were just in fear of future regulatory or fiscal
> pressure.

It's entirely unclear how much profit they were and are making - and
will make - from providing wiretap services to whichever regimes are
in power at the time.

However, an absolutely KEY aspect of the CALEA (Communication
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994) was that the telecos had
to provide remote-access snoop'n'peep services ONLY if they were PAID
for those services.

If I remember correctly, that single issue - heavily lobbied by the
telecom cartel, complete with even greater-than-usual political
"donations" - was so crucial, that CALEA was doomed to defeat until
that fee-for-services mandate was included.  But once fees were
mandated, the bill then passed quickly and easily (no matter how many
privacy advocates and civil libertarians opposed it).

Note that the CALEA said that the telcos were under absolutely NO
obligation to provide such snoop services, EXCEPT when they were
fully paid for so-doing.

Once Clinton signed CALEA into law, privacy and civlib advocates
realized that their only hope of controlling its use (or abuse) MIGHT
be through Congress' control of the purse-strings.  No loot to pay
the telecom cartel; no remote-access wiretaps!  (So much for THAT
idea!)

As to them doing it out of patriotism OR fear of governmental
pressure ... please recall that it was only in the last year or so
that they bluntly threatened to stop providing those services unless
and until they were paid!  (Reported at the time, right here on
Dave's IP list.)

--jim

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