ATT-Ma Bell Helped Big Brother With Spying

W

WhatInThe

SF VIP
Reports that ATT, the old Ma Bell helped the US government with spying as far back as 1985 around the time of the break up of the phone company monopoly. ATT wound up with the long distance end of the phone business so I guess the government felt the need or wanted ways to spy on other countries through the long distance lines.

Cooperation with internet spying really picked up after 9/11 with most being done from 2003-2013. My guess is ATT wanted/wants favors to allow for a very big family again.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/atandt-helped-nsa-spy-on-an-array-of-internet-traffic/ar-BBlM9NE

Side issue & debate. The feds got miffed when they found out there was no way to tap fiber optic lines which created a debate/issue. I heard stories of government agencies wanting to go into phone company facilities and place wire taps on customer lines/equipment when fiber optic cable started replacing copper by the l990s. The phone companies only wanted their technicians doing that for several reasons technical & legal. But many argued phone company employees should not be acting as agents of government even with a court order. But the same phone companies wouldn't complain when the government/police themselves tapped the copper lines outside which is also phone company equipment. Some where the phone companies relented and acted as agents of the government collecting, storing and giving proprietary information to them. The unions probably looked at it as work.
 

Actually, the "break-up" was incurred in 1984, as though mandated by George Orwell! The idea promulgated was that every American's phone bill would be significantly decreased.

Surprise! Ours went up by a factor of at least 4! The various "Bells" took on different names, "Bell Labs" became "Lucent Industries" (they having, after all, started it all with the discovery of, and implementation of, the "TRANSISTOR". The transistor signified "Solid State" Technology, meaning that the comparatively huge, heat-producing vacuum-tube technology was being challenged by the tiny, low-voltage newcomer, the transistor.

Many serious corporate mistakes of judgment followed: AT &T bet on microwave technology for long distance, and built at extremely high cost, towers to cover every 50 miles or so of terrain. Enter "fiber-optics", capable of carrying thousands of concurrent transmissions along a thin cable of glass fibers buried in the earth, no expensive towers, this obviously making AT & T's long-term investment dubious.

Launching many satellites into orbit even strained the fiber optics crowd. Today, we are operating with satellite where all tower communications are excluded, and relatively low-cost "cell-towers" being accessed by all providers. Not at all sure how prevalent fiber-optics is today in the picture. Things have certainly changed! imp
 

imp said:
Actually, the "break-up" was incurred in 1984, as though mandated by George Orwell! The idea promulgated was that every American's phone bill would be significantly decreased.

Surprise! Ours went up by a factor of at least 4! The various "Bells" took on different names, "Bell Labs" became "Lucent Industries" (they having, after all, started it all with the discovery of, and implementation of, the "TRANSISTOR". The transistor signified "Solid State" Technology, meaning that the comparatively huge, heat-producing vacuum-tube technology was being challenged by the tiny, low-voltage newcomer, the transistor.

Many serious corporate mistakes of judgment followed: AT &T bet on microwave technology for long distance, and built at extremely high cost, towers to cover every 50 miles or so of terrain. Enter "fiber-optics", capable of carrying thousands of concurrent transmissions along a thin cable of glass fibers buried in the earth, no expensive towers, this obviously making AT & T's long-term investment dubious.

Launching many satellites into orbit even strained the fiber optics crowd. Today, we are operating with satellite where all tower communications are excluded, and relatively low-cost "cell-towers" being accessed by all providers. Not at all sure how prevalent fiber-optics is today in the picture. Things have certainly changed! imp
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Wonder what they did prior to 1985-search warrants, probable cause, physical bugs on their suspect target?-uh oh, physical work, training and procedures required. Stunning are the revelations how cooperative and willing ATT was especially after 9-11. ATT allowed the NSA in Oct of 2001 while the other companies waited until 2002.

Ironic you mention satellites and at the same time ATT just merged with Direct tv I think it was. Also I heard ATT got caught using a so called marketing program in their phones which basically tracked the user in great detail and had to give it up after public outcry. Common Core and Bill Gates wanted to use the same program to project student progress and success throughout life.
 
Seems like by playing ball with the government ATT got a deal approved that should've been held up on antitrust issues. The FCC approved the Comcast buyout of ATT Broadband in a deal that was started shortly before 9-11 and completed a little over a year later in Dec 2002.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/media-july-dec02-fcc_11-14/

In the meantime the CEO of Qwest who refused to give into to NSA requests was prosecuted for insider trading.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-story-of-joseph-nacchio-and-the-nsa-2013-6

Follow the money trail on government contracts to Verizon and others and you'll find out what CEOs ignored those pesky constitutional issues.
 
Butterfly said:
Well, if they are spying on me, they won't find anything more interesting than my sister and I talking about going to the grocery store.
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I'd be careful about that nothing to hide. Some day someone will want to and probably can find some dirt for leverage or their career. They say everybody commits crime everyday wether they know it or not.

Worse yet the nothing to hide mindset is exactly what they want-capitulation to their ideas ie you don't have privacy so why worry. But it's not just about the person handling your information looking an actual terrorist it's what happens to private information down the road and who might get it besides someone looking for a terrorist.

http://kottke.org/13/06/you-commit-three-felonies-a-day

http://www.zdnet.com/article/if-you-have-nothing-to-hide-heres-where-to-send-your-passwords/
 

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