Just Say NO to Telecom Immunity

Today the Senate is resuming debate on wiretapping legislation -- specifically whether or not the Bush administration and big telecom companies will be retroactively excused for previous acts of warrantless wiretapping.

While we all know how Bush and his pals, big telecom, want this legislation to go, I want to know what the next president has to say. And three key senators (Clinton, McCain, and Obama) who happen to also be presidential candidates, have a unique platform and the country's attention.

I'm urging these presidential candidates to get off the campaign trail and get back to Washington D.C. to vote against amnesty.

If you want to join me in taking action, click here.

I know it's a little odd as the CEO of a phone company to be against immunity for other phone companies. But I'd like to think of myself as the voice of reason: I just don't believe we should be in the business of providing customer data to the Bush administration without a warrant. It's simply a bad business practice to violate your customers' trust. Maybe that's why the Bush administration didn't even bother to ask me to break the law. Instead, they went to the big boys who happily handed over whatever they were asked.

But that's exactly the problem. From what we've seen, it's shockingly easy for the government to illegally obtain private records -- just by asking. All the Bush administration has to do to shrink our constitutional rights is ratchet up the terror threat and these big companies fall into lock-step, and turn over your private data. Among the nation's major telecom companies, only one CEO asked to see a warrant and refused to turn over customer data when the government couldn't produce it. Feel safer yet?

Now Congress is poised to give immunity to telecom companies that turned over their customers' call records. The Bush administration says that's how to ensure companies cooperate with investigations. I say that violates the spirit of the free market the telecommunications reforms were supposed to promote and exactly what companies like AT&T and Verizon have undermined by throwing money and political muscle around in Washington. Instead of regulation, we get triangulation.

But now that the issue has moved from thwarting competition to spying on Americans, Congress should finally pay attention to what the public has to say.

And no-one should be more attune to what the public cares about than the three front-runners of this campaign who also have a front-row seat in Washington. While the presidential campaign is about our future, this legislation is about the future of our Constitution. We need our senators -- all of them -- to ensure it is safeguarded now.

Laura Scher is CEO of CREDO, a mobile and long distance company that helps its customers speak up for their beliefs. www.credomobile.com

Comments

[Vanska]

Just an FYI - you dont have to have a contract with some of these telecoms..­. After living abroad for a few years I realised that its only in the US that they try to MAKE you sign up for a 2 year contract..­. Most other countries use refillable cards for airtime and you buy the time whenever you want and in whatever denomination you want. Upon returning to the US I refused to commit myself and now have a month to month deal... My kids and my husband use go phones. These companies do credit checks for a reason, folks. They want you to pay them 79.99 or 99.99 or whatever each and every month for at least 2 years! This is another example of how our economy is based on debt. And they try to entice you into doing it by luring you with sexy new phones that would otherwise cost you $300 but only cost fifty bucks or less sometimes if you will just sign that contract! In other words they will pay you to sign... Dont do it!

[mydogshakespeare]

Do they need a law to grant immunity? And since it covers actions that occurred over six years ago, wouldn't this be an "ex post facto" law and thus unconstitutional? (See The United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 9: No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.)

Why is such a law even being considered? Did these Congresspersons even read the Constitution they swore to uphold?

[WillSweet]

This idea of retroactive immunity deeply offends me. Immunity is a tool granted to obtain information about a crime that would otherwise be unavailable because of a persons right not to incriminate themselves. It is designed to avail prosecutors of testimony about a more serious crime at the expense of ignoring a less serious crime. The prospect of granting retroactive immunity to the principle lawbreaker in exchange for absolutely nothing is outrageous and offensive and should itself be illegal. I am disgusted that so few of our lawmakers in Washington seem to care about the law.

[jayne]

Bravo! While there isn't a link to it, you may wish to see my piece, "Just Say No to Immunity," which appears on this very same blog yesterday.

[desmirl]

The sad truth is that Dingy Harry Reid and Grandma Pelosi are every bit as corrupt as George W. Bush. The have slid so far down the slop chute into the stinking mess of money and power that is politics in America that they couldn't take a moral or ethical stance if it were carved in stone in the walls of the capital building. Time to vote the vandals out of office.

[cynara]

Dear Laura,
My parents have had working assets since 1993, and they love it. You efforts are appreciated!

[RiderOnTheStorm]

Unfortunately, it seems likely at this point -- barring last-ditch parliamentary tactics -- that retroactive immunity will be granted to the telecoms who broke the law. I can't say I'm surprised; the rich and the powerful are seldom held accountable for their actions.

It's now only a matter of time until all telecoms are brought to heel -- even yours. I predict that you'll receive a National Security Letter which not only orders you to comply, but forbids you from disclosing that you've received it. If you refuse to comply, then pressure will be applied to the telecoms that you rely on to cut you off -- which they'll of course seize on as an opportunity to further ingratiate themselves AND destroy a competitor. If you resist, or announce publicly what's happening, you'll be smeared as a terrorist supporter, an enemy sympathizer, a tool of foreign powers -- whatever seems most likely to stick.

We face a bleak future.

[cblcar]

Pelosi and Reid must go.

[hopeless277]

Sorry, dear, you really just don't understand how things work in Washington. Let me explain it. First, you threaten an industry like the telecomms or the auto industry or coal or whatever. Then, that industry sends you a HUGE check for your 'campaign'. Then you back away ever so SLOWLY from your attack until it becomes 'old news'. At that point, everyone has what they want. The industry has paid it's 'protection' money and the you have your 'campaign' cash. It's a great system and it seems to be working perfectly. Cheers.

[Vanska]

...But just in case you want to try calling, here are the numbers:

Bayh [phone]
Carper [phone]
Inouye [phone]
Johnson [phone]
Landrieu [phone]
McCaskill [phone]
Mikulski [phone]
Nelson (FL) [phone]
Nelson (NE) [phone]
Pryor [phone]
Salazar [phone]
Specter [phone]

I'll be calling. I encourage everyone who cares to do so too.

[tootrue]

Laura,

Of course the Bushies didn't ask you "to break the law", and it has nothing to do with your principles. Your company doesn't own ANY wire lines or cell phone towers, so there's nothing for the NSA to tap into. All Credo does is buy service wholesale from the big telcos and resell it at retail.

Don't muddy your valid message by telling half-truths.

[zjr909]

It absolutely wouldn't matter if every voter in America contacted their elected representatives and demanded a return to the rule of law. Democracy is dead as a door-nail. Our wishes no longer matter in the least to our leaders. They're glib enough that they can always con enough of the voters into believing whatever they want the voters to believe. Bottom line is: our leaders haven't one iota of respect for the American people - and why should they? We're the ones who've let it come to this. And it appears to be too late to fix it.

[MuseScavenger]

They just passed the Intelligence Committee version which included retroactive immunity. This really sucks.

[sws3030]

This story was the last straw for me. Verizon is such a monoply that their version of customer service is so bad I bristled every time I paid a bill. When I learned about this, I dropped their service and went a different route.

I say if there is a crime to convict them of, or a civil claim to make them pay, then do it.

Fry their bush loving asses.