Paul Soglin: Waxing America

AT&T and Privacy: "We Own Your Phone, Video, and Internet Records."

AT&T is at it again. The Washington Post connects the dots.

Consumer advocates said yesterday that a new privacy policy from AT&T Inc. marks the first time a major telecom company has asserted that customer calling and Internet records are corporate property and raises concerns about how the company tracks consumer behavior and shares data with government and law enforcement agencies.

The new privacy policy is scheduled for release today on the company's Web site. AT&T said it does not share the data with third-party marketing firms, but it cites circumstances under which it shares customer information with the government and law enforcement. For its broadband Internet customers, the company also makes clear that it will collect information about which Web pages its customers view, how much time is spent on each page and what links are clicked on.
   
"While your account information may be personal to you, these records constitute business records that are owned by AT&T," the new policy states. "As such, AT&T may disclose such records to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process."

The policy comes as AT&T and other telephone companies are under scrutiny for their reported cooperation with the government in spying on consumers. Yesterday, in a hearing before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, lawmakers pressed AT&T chairman and chief executive Edward E. Whitacre Jr. about his firm's involvement in sharing records with federal agencies seeking to track down terrorists. Whitacre repeatedly stonewalled during the heated meeting, citing "classified" information and saying his company followed the law, according to Bloomberg News.

So, if we are AT&T customers, our phone records, the clickstream we generate at the computer, and the shows we watch on AT&T's new "U-verse" video service are all AT&T's property, and the federal government has access to all of it.  As we now know, all it needs to do is ask AT&T nicely.

"They are redefining the customer information as their property," said Charles H. Kennedy, a privacy and data protection lawyer at Morrison & Foerster LLP in the District. "If the company is going to say, 'Well, it's not your record; it's our record. You don't own it; we own it,' this may later be used to say it's not protected by the Privacy Act."

Meanwhile, the Senate Commerce Committee markup of the telecom giveaway that further enables this stuff continues Tuesday. AT&T would get economic and content control of everything that runs through its wires if Senator Stevens, the Committee Chair, has his way.

When this gets to the Senate floor, we know that Russ Feingold will vote for net neutrality. His statement at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on June 14 nails it:

"...the current landscape ... amounts to an emerging duopoly..."

"...without protections, Internet users could have fewer choices as only those      content providers who could afford to pay the corporate toll-keepers would be able to offer a competitive level of service. We need to make sure that the Internet retains its crucial role as an open forum for the free exchange and dissemination of information.

But what about Herb Kohl?  Hard to tell. The Dailypage's Kristian Knutsen tried to nail down Herb, but only found some typical "waiting to see which way the winds are blowing" equivocation. Kohl's spokesperson:  "the issue of competition is something he is very interested in, but on net neutrality, we have not taken a position on it yet."

On the House side, Dane 101.Com's Jesse Russell has been usefully deconstructing the votes and industry contributions received by Mark Green and by Ron Kind. As always, it's "follow the money."

The Capital Times' John Nichols has been all over these issues for quite a while. In an unsigned editorial, he wrote:

There's little question that a united Democratic caucus could combine with principled Republicans in the Senate to defend net neutrality. But if so-called "new Democrats" in the Senate side with the telephone and cable lobbies, the information superhighway will become a toll road.

Have Wisconsin State Journal readers ever seen the term "net neutrality" or coverage of the telecom giveaway bills?  Not yet.

- Barry Orton

Heckuva Job...Fighting Terrorism

Its time for the Republicans to get off the "We can protect Americans from terrorism" horse.

Tuesday: Just when you thought there was nothing left to bungle, Judge Unexpectedly Halts Moussaoui Trial:

AP. An angry federal judge considered Monday whether to dismiss the government's death penalty case against confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui after a federal attorney coached witnesses in violation of her rules.

Brinkema said a lawyer for the Transportation Security Administration sent e-mail to seven Federal Aviation Administration officials outlining the prosecution's opening statements and providing commentary on government witnesses from the first day of testimony. That was in violation of her pretrial order barring witnesses from exposure to any opening statements or trial testimony.

"An attorney for the TSA … egregiously breached that order," she told jurors before excusing them until Wednesday. Of the seven, three were to testify for the government and four were potential defense witnesses...

...She said the rule against witnesses hearing testimony in advance is "a very important protection of the truth-seeking process..."

...The stunning development came at the opening of the fifth day of the trial after the government informed the judge and the defense over the weekend of the attorney's contact.

"This is the second significant error by the government affecting the constitutional rights of this defendant and more importantly the integrity of the criminal justice system of the United States in the context of a death case," Brinkema told lawyers...

Wednesday:                        Anger at Moussaoui flares among 9/11 survivors

New York. ..Chuck Downey, a city fire lieutenant, is angry that he never had a chance to say goodbye to his father, Ray, a highly decorated deputy chief in the Fire Department before he was killed in the 9/11 attacks.

So when Downey heard Tuesday that confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui may avoid the death penalty and only face life imprisonment as a result of a federal judge's ruling in the 9/11 sentencing case, the pain immediately returned.

Thursday:  Prosecutors may drop Moussaoui death-penalty case due to judge ruling out security evidence

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Prosecutors have told U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema that they will likely give up their death-penalty case against al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui if they can't overturn her dramatic Tuesday ruling banning aviation-security evidence from the case.

This is a matter of magnificent bungling. It is the result of a callous disregard for the laws and the Constitution - the hallmark of Bush and his appointees. It is not the result of brilliant defense maneuvers.

I don't know if the government lawyer in question is a career appointee, or a hack appointed by the Bush Administration, but I do know in the shadow of FEMA"s Brownie of Katrina fame, that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was lurking, his hand in there somewhere.

These people are incompetent.