On Sun, 14 Jul 2013, Aaron Wendel wrote:
We (ISPs) are all compelled to provide information from time to time under a
court order. The PRISM program is voluntary. These companies gave the NSA
access to their systems voluntarily. To me there is a big difference. I
would be interested to know what they got out of it.
It sounds like many of them were 'compelled' to 'volunteer'.
Probably not much, because they really don't have to offer much. I could
see Uncle Sam strong-arming carriers who are beholden to the [local/state/
federal] government in some fashion for their ability to operate their
businesses (wireless spectrum auctions, state utility commission
approvals for XYZ, getting on the approved bidder list for government
contracts, etc). I'm also pretty sure the CxOs and legal counsels who
reviewed and signed off on whatever agreements the NSA put in front of
them won't be talking about the fine print any time soon.
jms
