Tag: Internet service providers

Who’s Spying On You? Nearly Everyone!

Hey Verizon and Yahoo!, saying you’ll be ridiculed and publicly shamed isn’t going to make me less interested. It’s not something I want my government hiding behind either.

Here’s another one of those stories that’s smoldering in the geekosphere but ready to light up like a Roman candle. A Freedom of Information request was sent to the US Justice Department by an Indiana University grad student looking for some insight into what info our government gets from our Internet service providers.

Before the DOJ could answer the ISPs chimed in. They were not happy.

From Wired: “Verizon and Yahoo intervened and filed an objection on grounds that, among other things, they would be ridiculed and publicly shamed were their surveillance price sheets made public.”

Hey Verizon and Yahoo!, saying you’ll be ridiculed and publicly shamed isn’t going to make me less interested. It’s not something I want my government hiding behind either.

I am very uncomfortable if the people I entrust with my email or to provide my Internet access give away my secrets, often without a warrant. This is just plain wrong on a variety of levels.

And don’t think these are isolated incidents. You will be shocked by how often this happens!

From “slight paranoia“: “Sprint Nextel provided law enforcement agencies with its customers’ (GPS) location information over 8 million times between September 2008 and October 2009.”

Like I said, this is smoldering now, but not for long.

AT&T Says: They Shouldn’t “Expect A Free Ride.”

I have written about this a few times already – but it doesn’t seem to want to go away. Internet service providers, like AT&T (until recently SBC) want to charge me for Internet service, as they should, and then charge those who provide the content too.

That’s a major change in the way the Internet has run. If I were AT&T, that’s what I’d want too. But is it fair or right? I don’t think so.

Let’s put it another way. I pick up my phone and call Sergio’s to order a pizza. Should AT&T be able to charge Sergio’s for telling me what’s on the menu, or is my paying for the call enough? It always has been.

Here’s what AT&T’s president Ed Whitaker has to say: