AT&T Began Building Spy Facility For NSA-DAYS After Bush Took Office

[kpete]

Even worse than we imagined: AT&T contract for NSA to surveill all internet traffic, foreign and domestic, started before 9/11
Submitted by lambert on Fri, 2007-10-12 21:37.

That’s all Internet traffic, foreign and domestic, data and voice. And the decision to do this was taken, not because of 9/11, but as soon as Bush took office. As was the decision to ignore the rule of law. So much for the idea that the extremely benevolent and trustworthy Bush administration was reacting to 9/11, and just wants “surgical” surveillance* to keep us safe from terrorists, eh? Could this program be Spencer Ackerman’s “Project X”?

According to Wired:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/qwest-ceo-not-a.html

And in May 2006, a lawsuit filed against Verizon for allegedly turning over call records to the NSA alleged that AT&T began building a spying facility for the NSA just days after President Bush was inaugurated. That lawsuit is one of 50 that were consolidated and moved to a San Francisco federal district court, where the suits sit in limbo waiting for the 9th Circuit Appeals court to decide whether the suits can proceed without endangering national security.

According the allegations in the suit (.pdf):
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/files/groundbreakerlawsuit.pdf

The project was described in the ATT sales division documents as calling for the construction of a facility to store and retain data gathered by the NSA from its domestic and foreign intelligence operations but was to be in actuality a duplicate ATT Network Operations Center for the use and possession of the NSA that would give the NSA direct, unlimited, unrestricted and unfettered access to all call information and internet and digital traffic on ATTÌs long distance network.

The NSA program was initially conceived at least one year prior to 2001 but had been called off; it was reinstated within 11 days of the entry into office of defendant George W. Bush.

An ATT Solutions logbook reviewed by counsel confirms the Pioneer-Groundbreaker project start date of February 1, 2001.

The allegations in that case come from unnamed AT&T insiders, who have never stepped forward or provided any documentation to the courts. But Carl Mayer, one of the attorneys in the case, stands by the allegations in the lawsuit.

“All we can say is, we told you so,” Mayer said.

more at:
http://www.correntewire.com/even_worse_than_we_imagined_at_t_contract_for_nsa_to_surveill_all_internet_traffic_foreign_and_domestic_started_before_9_11

and from WAPO

(Former Qwest CEO Joseph) Nacchio's account, which places the NSA proposal at a meeting on Feb. 27, 2001, suggests that the Bush administration was seeking to enlist telecommunications firms in programs without court oversight before the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon. The Sept. 11 attacks have been cited by the government as the main impetus for its warrantless surveillance efforts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/12/AR2007101202485_pf.html

[Gman]

1. I'm not surprised

The pre-SBC/AT&T hmerger version of AT&t had a long history of doing what they damned well pleased and considered fines to be part of the cost of doing business.

[Kansas Wyatt]

17. SBC was ruined & destroyed because of AT&T

The quality of service has never been the same since. Now it's all about how much money they can take you for.

[karynnj]

22. AT&T itself is NOT the AT&T

but really Southwest Bell, out of Texas. It took over AT&T and took the AT&T name, which had more credibility. then it took over SBC. SWB was the worst of the RBOCs (Regional Bell Operating Companies).

[Lasher]

43. Didn't they also buy BellSouth?

I heard that after that acquisition they were going to call themselves the Bell System. :D

[Gman]

49. You mean it's worse??

SBC was always about gouging you for however much they could get.

[Kansas Wyatt]

53. A lot worse now and worse service.

[Gman]

54. Service was gone 20 years ago

[Beetwasher]

2. Interesting, Almost Like They KNEW Something

n/t

[NC_Nurse]

3. Don't complain about them, they'll cut off your service.

:eyes:

[Dystopian]

4. *This one........K&R

As I was sitting there staring into space not knowing if I should post... and finally clicked it off...you already had it down.
Don't know how to undo....
Anyway......this would be a fine time to personally thank you for everything....and I mean everything!


:yourock:


peace~

[defendandprotect]

5. Thanks Qwest. . . ! I guess AT&T and Verison weren't going to mention this . .. ?

When the fascists say, "fall in line," it's nice to know that we have Qwest on our side ...
and who's on the other side -- !!!

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. Maybe we should all try to give Qwest our business?

[Stardust]

41. I think Qwest is affiliated with the Carlye Group. n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

45. Now I'm really confused.

[karynnj]

23. Nacchio was a long time AT&T manager

and rose to head the Consumer Marketing Division. His decision here may have reflected the values of the old Bell Sytem

AT&T for the first at least 100 years was a very good company, both for employees and the communities they were in. They were a regulated monopoly which gave them the money to fund one of the best research labs in the world, Bell Telephone Laboratories (Bell Labs). The transistor, needed for so many electronics, was invented their and they allowed the use of the patent by everyone, knowing that what it would do. Through all that time, the CEOs were people who were career Bell people.

Divestiture - was pushed by speculators - destroyed all this. The AT&T that existed when I left school - the Bell System - is NOT the AT&T of today, even if it has their name. Even in the days around divestiture, SWB which took over AT&T seemed the most likely to break rules. At a Science and Technology Commerce Committee hearing on funding innovation earlier this year, Senator Inowye (HI) spoke of how bad a mistake the break up was and how with Bell Labs, there was so much excellent research.

[L. Coyote]

6. And what did Bushco's spies do with ALL traffic. Divert it outside US jurisdiction

and beyond the reach of the US Constitution and US law, where they could do whatever they wanted to do with it.

Just think of the possibilities. Spy on the 2002, 2004, and 2006 Dem candidates, make insider trading profits, keep a close eye on Peace groups, ......

[Auntie Bush]

29. This is really shocking, sickening and scary.

"Just think of the possibilities. Spy on the 2002, 2004, and 2006 Dem candidates, make insider trading profits, keep a close eye on Peace groups."

I can't believe our past and present candidates aren't suing. This is much worse than Watergate!

MORE GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT!

[MidwestTransplant]

31. Interesting.

[dkofos]

7. All part of cheney's grand plan.

[Contrary1]

15. Exactly....

And what else was in the works long before Jan. 20, 2001? I figure a lot of payoffs had already been made; everything from local politicians and judges to construction contracts and spy facilities. And others we will never know about. Far too much to risk not being able to follow through with it.

It becomes clearer all the time why Bush had to "win" the election...so that if it ever came to light; he could pardon all the criminal activity that was involved before he even took the oath.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

8. Initially conceived AT LEAST one year before 2001?

What's up with that? WHO "conceived" it? Was the Bush junta already "in" before they were actually IN power?

:shrug:

I am confused.

[Lasher]

44. Well, remember the neocons planned the invasion of Iraq in the 1990s.

I believe John Poindexter must have been one of those who "conceived" this early on.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

9. It's not only ATT - Verizon is at it too

I've posted this here before- I know someone who is helping construct the new fiber optic system throughout Dallas (via Verizon). They're building a parallel system alongside the official one- it's called the Purple Line. It's "classified"- the workers are not supposed to talk about it, and it doesn't officially exist, but every day it's expanding.

See my OP at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5687460

[defendandprotect]

37. Well, looks like Dems have a lot to investigate -- and to IMPEACH for . . .

[CGowen]

48. Isn't this the plan for Internet 2, a more controlled internet with higher speeds?

Don't upgrade the old infrastructure and when the bottleneck gets to tight they can offer a brand new system that can handle it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. It would be illegal for Congress to give the telecoms immunity now.

And if they did and backdated it after 9/11, folks, we have to question whether our entire government has turned against us.

[ellacott]

18. So very true n/t

[Uncle Joe]

12. This is consistent with my hypothesis

that corporate lust for controlling the Internet was a major motivation for trashing and slandering the Internet's primary political champion, they didn't want Al Gore in the White House to thwart their plans of truly becoming "Big Brother" in every negative sense of the word. The fight is to control information and that's all their about, individual freedom for the American People actually scares the hell out of them. Another myth, they don't believe in competition either, so much as they believe in monopoly and the Internet threatens that as well.

Thanks for the thread kpete.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

19. "information control"

the images that phrase invokes are mighty scary. :(

[Uncle Joe]

20. It is, Viva, but people should keep in mind,

any corruption not beyond imagination, is also not beyond reality. I believe Orwell wrote his books for good reason.

[Richard Steele]

13. K&R

[dbt]

14. First, the government sold us out to the corporations,

then the corporations turned around and sold us BACK out to the government. Reckon what's next?

K & R

[Viva_La_Revolution]

16. fuckers!

We already knew that *Co started spying on us before 9/11, but the story that came out the other day about Qwest and pre-election meetings blew my mind.
This just adds to my outrage.

[me b zola]

21. k&r

[emmadoggy]

24. I have not been a big fan of Qwest

but this sure makes me glad that they have been my local and long distance phone provider for the last five years and my internet provider for the past 18 months.

Thanks, Qwest. :thumbsup:

[Divine Discontent]

25. yet ANOTHER major story

that if this were any other president - would get them impeached.

so much utter BULLSHIT!


Hello Congress?

Hello Nancy?

Hello Senate?

Hello Harry?

[nashville_brook]

32. amen.

[krispos42]

26. I have T-Mobile for cellular and Sprint Wireless Broadband for internet

Am I screwn? Are my hard-earned dollars financing this in any way when I pay my bills?

[Kurovski]

27. "“All we can say is, we told you so,” Mayer said."

I remember way back when the whistle blowing worker (repairman?)
revealed the station in San Francisco where citizen info was stored. At one point he said "It's much worse than you think."

So now we see just how much worse.

K&R.

[frogcycle]

28. any further questions as to why

bush is demanding retroactive immunity for the telecos?

[Joanne98]

30. I just watched booktv and ispy. it was a nightmare........

http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/andisp.html
iSpy
Surveillance and Power in the Interactive Era
Mark Andrejevic
September 2007
320 pages, 6 x 9
CultureAmerica
Cloth ISBN 978-0-7006-1528-5, $29.95 (t)

Whether you’re purchasing groceries with your Safeway “club card” or casting a vote on American Idol, that data is being collected. From Amazon to iTunes, cell phones to GPS devices, Google to TiVo—all of these products and services give us an expansive sense of choice, access, and participation. But, in an era now marked by large-scale NSA operations that secretly monitor our email exchanges and internet surfing, Mark Andrejevic shows how these new technologies are increasingly employed as modes of surveillance and control.

Many contend that our proliferating interactive media empower individuals and democratize society. But, Andrejevic asks, at what cost? In iSpy, he reveals that these and other highly touted benefits are accompanied by hidden risks and potential threats that tend to be ignored by mainstream society. His book offers the first sustained critique of a concept that has been a talking point for twenty years, an up-to-the-minute survey of interactivity across multiple media platforms. It debunks the false promises of the digital revolution still touted by the popular media while seeking to rehabilitate, rather than simply write off, the potentially democratic uses of interactive media.

Andrejevic opens up the world of digital rights management and the data trail each of us leaves—data about our locations, preferences, or life events that are already put to use in various economic, political, and social contexts. He notes that, while citizens are becoming increasingly transparent to private and public monitoring agencies, they themselves are unable to access the information gathered about them—or know whether it’s even correct. (The watchmen, it seems, don’t want to be watched.) He also considers the appropriation of consumer marketing for political campaigns in targeting voters, and also examines the implications of the Internet for the so-called War on Terror.

In iSpy, Andrejevic poses real challenges for our digital future. Amazingly detailed, compellingly readable, it warns that we need to temper our enthusiasm for these technologies with a better under-standing of the threats they pose—to be able to distinguish between interactivity as centralized control and as collaborative participation.

“A vivid and compelling account of how interactivity appears to be enhancing our power yet in fact is increasing the power of others to watch over us and control us.”—Daniel J. Solove, author of The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy in the Information Age

“Do not mistake this book for another rose-colored glimpse of the digital future. This is a sharp-eyed, sharp-elbowed tour of a darker world.”—Fred Turner, author of From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism

“A hard-hitting critique, tempered by an ironic sense of humor.”—David Lyon, author of Surveillance Society: Monitoring Everyday Life

MARK ANDREJEVIC is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Iowa and a Fellow at the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland. He is the author of Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched, in addition to a number of book chapters and articles on surveillance, new media, and popular culture.
http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/andisp.html

[EVDebs]

33. Greg Palast mentions another pre 9-11 NSA "policy shift"

"The “Back-Off” Directive and the Islamic Bomb

… A top-level CIA operative who spoke with us on condition of strictest anonymity said that, after Bush took office, “There was a major policy shift” at the National Security Agency. Investigators were ordered to “back off ” from any inquiries into Saudi Arabian financing of terror networks, especially if they touched on Saudi royals and their retainers. That put the Bin Ladens, a family worth a reported $12 billion and a virtual arm of the Saudi royal household, off limits for investigation. Osama was the exception; he remained a wanted man, but agents could not look too closely at how he filled his piggy bank. The key rule of any investigation, “follow the money,” was now violated, and investigations-at least before September 11-began to die."

http://www.gregpalast.com/khan-job-bush-spiked-probe-of-pakistan%E2%80%99s-dr-strangelove-bbc-reported-in-2001/

And now we find the illegal eavesdroping/spying on John Edwards, from kpete's post at

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2037832

[McCamy Taylor]

34. They did it for $$$ not patriotism, no immunity!

Here is what the Bush administration gave AT&T and Verizon (and how they screwed Qwest)

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/McCamy%20Taylor/76

AT&T wanted to merge with Bell South and make a behemoth.

Both Qwest and Verizon wanted to merge with MCI and make a behemoth.

AT&T got its merger rubber stamped.

When Qwest offered a higher price for MCI than Verizon was willing to pay, the SEC started prosecuting Qwest executives for stuff that happened years before, which caused MCI to turn sour on the Qwest offer and drove them into Verizon's arms.

Read it and weap for democracy.

[jgraz]

35. You have to ask how they planned to get away with this

I mean, wouldn't you have to count on some catastrophe like 9/11 to get you off the hook? :tinfoilhat:

[defendandprotect]

38. YES! . . . and I would think having the ability to tap phones would help you ward off investigations

[preynsislike]

36. it gets worse

the NSA has also completely restaffed its work force since 9/11.

[Stardust]

42. Welcome, welcome!

[defendandprotect]

39. They actually found out who Nixon was wiretapping and it was shock and hilarious . . .

'cause he was also wiretapping Kissinger, for one -- !!!

And with the feeling of this administration of being bullet proof, I imagine they've gone father than any KING has gone before?

[defendandprotect]

40. They actually found out who Nixon was wiretapping and it was shock and hilarious . . .

'cause he was also wiretapping Kissinger, for one -- !!!

And with the feeling of this administration of being bullet proof, I imagine they've gone father than any KING has gone before?

[maxkeiser]

46. 1776 - 2000 RIP

hi,
yes - america has become a police state... no, electing democrats won't change this fact... after 220 years; power has finally migrated to the White House; absolute power, all attempts at checks and balances are now over... what the founding fathers built - a way to distribute power over three branches of gov't - in a way that includes the people too - has been irrevocably destroyed... let's move on... the bigger problem in the immediate term is this; to paper over the debts used to take over the US gov't by insiders and market manipulators.. the Fed and Treasury, and lehman, JPM, GSax etc. are now running the printing presses at full tilt... the american dollar's purchasing power is dropping by 10 - 15% a year.. (pre-tax). To survive the US collapse buy gold and silver and maybe some stocks from the list over at GulagWealthFund.com - if you are not going to emigrate out of the US at least do something to preserve your wealth - so you come out the other side of this - with something.

[EV_Ares]

47. I would hope that congress will not back down from making the

companies pay for their illegal actions of spying on anyone of their choosing.

[HughMoran]

50. I remember working for this right-wing company - I hated it

I've never worked for such a large company that was so completely infested with right-wing nut-jobs. It doesn't suprise me in the least that they were/are involved in spying on Americans to support their right-wing overlords.

[BulletproofLandshark]

51. Somewhere in a parallel universe...

where justice still matters, AT&T's board of directors is standing trial for treason right now...

[riverdeep]

52. kick

The lines are clear as to why Dear Leader wanted immunity for Telcos. Now, two things. Will this story make it in the mainstream, and will the dems cave? Especially will the dems cave.

The things that manage to leak out despite the willful ignorance of most media and the hyper secrecy of this administration are so mind bogglingly impeachable, I shudder to think the true expanse of horror that actually lies under that rock.

[defendandprotect]

55. Retribution against Qwest CEO . . . ?????

http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/index.cfm

Indirectly from Washington Post . . .

QUOTE:
NSA Bushwhacks Qwest Ex-CEO
by CONSPIRACY PLANET

In appealing his conviction for insider trading, former Qwest Communications chief executive Joseph P. Nacchio has alleged that the National Security Agency (NSA) asked the Denver-based phone company to participate in a warrantless - and illegal - domestic spying program.

When Nacchio said no, contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars were cancelled in retaliation for the company's refusal to gather information about Americans' call records.

"Nacchio was convicted for selling shares of Qwest stock in early 2001, just before financial problems caused the company's share price to tumble," reported the Washington Post in an article called "Former CEO Says U.S. Punished Phone Firm."
{http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/12/
AR2007101202485.html?hpid=topnews)

"He has claimed in court papers that he had been optimistic that Qwest would overcome weak sales because of the expected top-secret contract with the government.

"Nacchio's account, which places the NSA proposal at a meeting on Feb. UNQUOTE