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Meanwhile in the U.S., AT&T executives have permitted mass governmental surveillance through their network for decades, even before the Patriot Act, even before
by mysterypie 10y ago
Meanwhile in the U.S., AT&T executives have permitted mass governmental surveillance through their network for decades, even before the Patriot Act, even before national security letters. AT&T never made a single public complaint about the surveillance, and for all we know, they were eager participants.
- hackuser 10y agoA minor detail: The name AT&T applies to three different companies: * 1885-1983: Generally known today as the monopoly phone company for the United States. (I don't know when the monopoly began or its geographic extent.) * 1983-2005: Long distance company, after the breakup of the monopoly. AFAIK, it had been one small part of the much larger former monopoly. * 2005-present: The former Southwestern Bell Corp (SBC), which bought the above company and took on its name and branding.
- mysterypie 10y agoYou're right that the name AT&T has undergone big changes in what it refers to, esp. with the breakup of the Bell System in 1983/1984. But the old AT&T set the culture for all of the present day phone companies in dealings with the government.
- Iv 10y agoWell, in Germany many people alive do remember what mass governmental surveillance entails. In Germany, STASI is not a metaphor for an abstract threat of authoritarianism. It is something that everybody born in the east before the 1990 had to deal with.