Telco it like it is

[mdlbear]

Telcos wish to deny mass snooping | The Register

Furthermore, both companies have said they "cannot confirm or deny" that they've got a relationship with the NSA. Now, trust a journo on this one: in the commercial world, and in the political world, whenever a flack can deny something that might be bad for trade, share values, or winning the election, they always deny it. "I cannot confirm or deny" always means, "I cannot deny". There are no exceptions to this rule outside the realm of legal constraints against commenting in any way (gag orders, etc).

The Reg. does a pretty good job of parsing the careful, contorted language that Verizon and BellSouth use in "denying" that they've given anything to the NSA. And I understand the Brooklyn Bridge is up for sale on eBay...

Comments

[mdlbear]

If you look at the wording of their denials -- things like "we don't have a contract..." and "does not provide any government agency unfettered access..." -- it's very clear that they're being careful not to deny what they're actually doing, which I suspect may be even more extensive than the press has dared suggest so far. Reading between the lines, it's pretty clear that they don't have a whole lot of innocence to establish; their only hope at this point is to stall until the press turns its attention to someone else's scandal.

But you already knew that.