BellSouth Says No to NSA

Elena
16 May, 2006
New York City

A report released by USA Today identified BellSouth Corp., AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., as companies that had complied with a National Security Agency request for millions of customer phone records after the terrorist attacks in 2001. BellSouth denied having assisted the NSA.

[R]8:00AM BellSouth rejected an accusation of giving NSA phone records.[/R]
A report released by USA Today on Thursday identified BellSouth Corp., along with AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., as companies that had complied with a National Security Agency request for millions of customer phone records after the terrorist attacks in 2001. Experts said the agency was likely seeking to detect calling patterns in the mountain of data. Critics denounced the phone companies for complying with the NSA surveillance request, while others approved of compromising privacy for national security.

BellSouth says it has no evidence it was contacted by a U.S. spy agency or gave the government access to any of its customers' phone call records. The regional Bell, offering telecommunication services in nine Southeastern states, said Monday it had conducted a ‘thorough review’ and established that it had not given the National Security Agency customer call records. BellSouth's customer service department had received only 26 complaints about reports that private phone records may have been relayed to the government.

Spokesmen for AT&T and Verizon said Monday night they had no comment on BellSouth's statement. Verizon spokesman referred to a company statement Friday that said Verizon had complied with relevant laws and was ‘committed’ to customer privacy. San Antonio-based AT&T said it respects customers' privacy but has ‘an obligation to assist law enforcement and other government agencies responsible for protecting the public welfare.’


[R]7:30 AM Energy stocks drag Asia down.[/R]
Asian markets declined Tuesday. Japanese benchmark finished 0.2% to close at 16455.69 points. Exporters were the biggest losers in the trading, as most automakers and electronics exporters fell. Toyota Motor dropped 1.28%, while electronics company Toshiba was down 1.36%. Honda Motor also was on the loserboard, down 0.90%.Earlier in the day, local media announced that Honda intends to invest $450 million in a new North American plant due in 2009. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.62%, to 16,313.15 and the Shanghai Composite index didn’t buck the downtrend, shedding 3.05%. Singapore's Straits Times lost 0.4% but Taiwan's benchmark edged 0.1% up.


[R]6:30 AM Europe declined on commodity pressures.[/R]
European markets were lower by mid morning on Tuesday, reversing earlier advances, as investors came under pressure by commodity stocks to sell oil, mining and metal shares. Austria’s OMV was the biggest loser, as it stock lost 8.5%, accompanied by another company in the red, Norway’s Statoil fell down 0.8%. Luxury goods stocks also sank on consumer sentiment over energy costs. French perfume maker, Hermes International, was off 4.1% and the Swiss watchmaker, Richemont, dropped 2.1%. EADS, producer of Airbus, reported strong earnings, up 26%, beating analyst expectations despite a strong euro, hampering export.

Oil continued its fall on Tuesday morning on worries that high energy costs may slow down economic growth. Crude oil was traded 14 cents lower at $69.27 a barrel by 0719 GMT, London Brent fell 25 cents to $69.42. Gold in London was fixed at a recommended price of $681.00, down from $683.60 late Monday on NYME. The dollar was down against the euro. The euro bought $1.2807, down from $1.2809 late Monday in New York, the greenback was slightly up against the yen, buying 110.30 yen, up from 110.20 yen on Monday, and off from the British pound. One British pound was traded at $1.8803, up from $1.8793.