Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity (a 2nd lawsuit)

[tuvor]

Feb. 24 – Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.

The civil suit is the second to challenge corporations for helping the National Security Agency carry out a secret order by the president to spy on communications between people in the United States and parties overseas without first obtaining warrants.

The New York Times first revealed the existence of the NSA surveillance program in December. The Bush administration continues to defend it as a necessary and permissible tool in the "war on terror," but most legal scholars who have addressed the matter disagree with the administration’s interpretation of executive privileges.

In a statement announcing the suit last Friday, lawyer Michael S. Pascazi in Fishkill, New York called the NSA program "the largest invasion of privacy ever devised." Citing media reports, Pascazi alleged that Verizon provided the spy agency with communications records of customers and non-customers alike, violating consumer trust and numerous laws. The suit was filed on behalf of all people who have used Verizon facilities to communicate while the NSA program had access to Verizon’s databases.

http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2855

[ixion]

1. any phone company that illegally turned over records should be fined

it's just that simple.

[JDPriestly]

2. These lawsuits are likely to backfire.

We need a new government and legislation that stops this. We need a new face -- a Democratic face -- in Congress, and we need it this year. Let's focus on that. Bush's judges are not going to decide in favor of our rights. Lawsuits are just not the right approach.

[IndianaGreen]

5. with a chicken shit Congress, the courts are the only option left

short of insurrection.

Didn't you hear Pelosi say that impeachment was off the table?

[peaches2003]

8. Harry Reid

And Harry Reid already endorsing the General for CIA chief without even asking the first question about his NSA spying. Reid had GOT to go!

[springhill]

10. I'm guessing that this administration...........

has loads of information on members of Congress and the Senate. They've been illegally wiretapping since almost from the beginning of their reign. How much dirty information are they blackmailing with?

[kurth]

6. A lawsuit is what started Clinton's impeachment

Ya gotta start someplace. Let the subpoenas fly, and let the discovery proceed, cuz the morons and cowards on the Hill ain't gonna do jackshit.

[electropop]

11. Anything that brings attention to the crimes is the right approach.

It's a good idea to hit Buscho and its cronies from every possible direction, just as they have done to the American people for years.

[WhiteTara]

12. I say pressure them from all sides

I applaud anyone who puts a barrier between us and that monster. Go lawsuits. Even if they are dismissed, they have to deal with it and I'm sure it produces some stomach churning for some creepy schmuck.

[PaulaFarrell]

13. Why are they not the right approach?

Many of the most important changes in US history occurred because of lawsuits. Brown vs the board of education, Roe vs Wade, there are dozens of others. Plus, companies are a hell of a lot more scared of a court judgment than public disapproval. FRom witnessing the last 12-24 months of polticians absolutely failing to reign Bush in at all, I have a lot more faith in courts than in waiting for the pols to act for us. And I'm not exactty sure how a court case could backfire. It may well fail, but it will have still brought exposure to the issue.

[Pale Blue Dot]

14. Wrong

The only thing corporations listen to are the sounds of money. This will cost them potentially billions in legal fees.

Lawsuits are exactly the right way to go.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. Ahem.... looks like some of their employees are already

bailing.....

http://www22.verizon.com/forhomedsl/channels/dsl/?LOBCode=C&PromoTCode=BIhp2&PromoSrcCode=B&POEId=BN1HP

[Richard D]

7. What an odd picture to have on their site.

Wonder what they are trying to say. I can't think of any good image or how that relates to broadband use other than that they are bailing.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

9. Yup..... I would think that now would be a great time to remove it. n/t

[Amonester]

4. Kick & Recommend (For this must go to Greatest Page).

And to Michael S. Pascazi in Fishkill, New York: stay away from small planes, sir.

We hope you'll win. :patriot:

[MSgt213]

15. This case was voluntarily dismissed in April It was filed in Feb