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Germany cancels Verizon contract over snooping fear

RainfallWithin
By RainfallWithin
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Quotes from BBC News source: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28047877

 

The German government has cancelled a contract with Verizon over concern that US firms may be giving data to US authorities.
 
Verizon has provided internet services to a number of German government departments and the current contract was due to run out in 2015.
 
The firm did not comment on the move.
 
There was anger in Germany over allegations that a US agency bugged Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone.
 
Earlier this month Germany announced an investigation into those allegations which were made by a former contractor of the US National Security Agency (NSA), Edward Snowden.
 
There is no suggestion that Verizon was involved, but the controversy has put pressure on US technology firms doing business in Germany.
 
German Interior Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said: "There are indications that Verizon is legally required to provide certain things to the NSA, and that's one of the reasons the cooperation with Verizon won't continue".
 
"Furthermore, the ties revealed between foreign intelligence agencies and firms in the wake of the US National Security Agency affair, show that the German government needs a very high level of security for its critical networks," he said.
 
Verizon is the second biggest US telecoms company after AT&T.
 
 
Personal Thoughts
 
Quite frankly I think it's perfectly reasonable for the German government to do this.
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I think we'll see the effects of the NSA revelations for a long time, and that some distrust will be one of those effects.

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Good news, Verizon should stay where it is and not expand outside US.

or die all together? :o

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Whoa. I just realized something.

"... the German government needs a very high level of security for its critical networks..." 

That just sounds like a perfect opportunity for the government to institute it's own version of the NSA. I'm just saying. The Snowden Revelations could cause other governments to do what the US has done under the pretense of not being under the NSA's surveillance. Worst case scenario, but it's possible and dangerous.

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Whoa. I just realized something.

"... the German government needs a very high level of security for its critical networks..."

That just sounds like a perfect opportunity for the government to institute it's own version of the NSA. I'm just saying. The Snowden Revelations could cause other governments to do what the US has done under the pretense of not being under the NSA's surveillance. Worst case scenario, but it's possible and dangerous.

They do have their version of NSA, it's called Military Counterintelligence Service aka MAD. :)

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They do have their version of NSA, it's called Military Counterintelligence Service aka MAD. :)

 

And the German version of the CIA is the Bundesnachrichtendienst.

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The German government is the best in the world in my opinion, they make things the right way.

 

I'm German and I don't know anyone who would agree with you. It's all going downhill. FAST.

 

I don't really play many games for gameplay anymore honestly. I play most games just for the graphics.

 

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The NSA security issue is a very  complicated beast that is well intrenched, has more sides that dodecagon and more insidious than metastasized cancer.    As wpirobotbuilder has said, we will be seeing the fall out from all this for years. Truth be told there was little trust to begin with and this means there won't be any again.  It won't just be American business that suffers but anyone linked to an American business will come under tighter scrutiny also.

Grammar and spelling is not indicative of intelligence/knowledge.  Not having the same opinion does not always mean lack of understanding.  

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I'm German and I don't know anyone who would agree with you. It's all going downhill. FAST.

Living in Germany I would agree with that in some cases.

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I'm German and I don't know anyone who would agree with you. It's all going downhill. FAST.

 

 

Living in Germany I would agree with that in some cases.

 

I think it just "always look better in the neighbor's garden" than your own.

 

(imo, everyone in every country think it's better elsewhere it seems)

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I think it just "always look better in the neighbor's garden" than your own.

 

(imo, everyone in every country think it's better elsewhere it seems)

 

True. I think I would like Germany to become a bit more like Denmark.

 

I don't really play many games for gameplay anymore honestly. I play most games just for the graphics.

 

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I'd imagine that Verizon is going to get some money under the table from the US government to not raise a stink over this; people's tax money of course.

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That just sounds like a perfect opportunity for the government to institute it's own version of the NSA. I'm just saying.

 

We have that. It's called the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND).

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I'm German and I don't know anyone who would agree with you. It's all going downhill. FAST.

It's not as dramatic as it may sound. But yes, there are some severe issues we must solve.

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"over allegations that a US agency bugged Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone"

 

ALLEGATIONS? REALLY??!!! It's a fact, not an allegation! >.<

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"over allegations that a US agency bugged Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone"

 

ALLEGATIONS? REALLY??!!! It's a fact, not an allegation! >.<

They have to say allegations for legal reasons, until someone is found guilty in court or there is absolute indisputable proof they can be dome for defamation.

Grammar and spelling is not indicative of intelligence/knowledge.  Not having the same opinion does not always mean lack of understanding.  

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They have to say allegations for legal reasons, until someone is found guilty in court or there is absolute indisputable proof they can be dome for defamation.

Well they might aswell forget it then, because the german government is afraid to lose the american market if they actually find anyone guilty ^^ 

Hell, they probably don't even want to trial our very own BND, who was just as involved -.-

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