The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has now officially declined to investigate an inquiry into the behavior of telephone companies in American.
There have been many news reports claiming telephone companies like AT&T, BellSouth, and Verizon have willingly sent information on their networks to the National Security Agency (NSA) in a way to support the “war on terror”. In one case there was a report that AT&T gave the NSA access to install optical splitters at locations. This would allow the government instant access to the Verizon network. Some intelligence officials want retroactive immunity to phone companies in their service to our nation.
The Democratic head of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, Rep. Ed Markey, has been asking the FCC for a number of months to launch an investigation into this “agreement” between the NSA and telcos.
Kevin Martin, Chairman of the FCC wrote to the US Attorney General saying that an investigation would jeopardize national security of the US.
The Attorney General’s office has not responded to Chairman Martin’s message. When pressed for a response from Martin the AG’s office reffered him to J.M. McConnell the Director of National Intelligence. McConnell said that this investigation would cause “grave damage to national security”. Martin then responded to Congressman Markey.
Markey then release this statement on the issue:
“I am disappointed by the FCC’s response. I still hold that it is well within the authority of the independent agency responsible for the enforcement of our nation’s communications privacy laws to investigate the very serious reports that the intelligence agencies were using telephone companies to obtain phone records and Internet data on citizens without proper, prior authorization. I believe the agency could conduct its own examination of such reports in a way that safeguards national security.”
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