More domestic spying from ATT

More domestic spying from ATT? by

John Aravosis (DC) · 6/13/2007

A very troubling article in today's Los Angeles Times about AT&T. You remember AT&T, the company that "reportedly" let the US government spy on its own customers without a search warrant? Well, it may not surprise you to learn that AT&T is now planning on making sure that the emails you send to family and friends don't contain things that corporate America might not like. How they plan to do that is anyone's guess. But it sure sounds like one possible way is prying into your emails to make sure you aren't attaching songs, tv clips, movie clips, or even, who knows, newspaper articles? Will they look at the video clips and photos and documents you send by email to make sure that they're really your private corporate work product, your communications with your attorney, or oh I don't know, a private sex video of you and your wife? What's next, AT&T listening in to phone calls to make sure you don't slander anybody? How about reading my postal mail? After all, it's possible I'm sending a friend a pirated DVD. Hell, I may even be carrying that DVD on my person - perhaps we should institute mandatory body cavity searches on every street corner.My favorite quote from the article, an AT&T spokesman says that "once a[n anti-piracy] technology was chosen, the company would look at privacy and other legal issues." That's nice. Once AT&T already decides how to pry into your online life, then they'll look at privacy and legal concerns. A bit like - hell, a lot like - consulting a lawyer after you've already committed to doing the crime.But please don't tell the Democrats in Congress that privacy is a big and growing concern. They have other more important issues to deal with, like making sure that George Bush isn't mean to them