Free Phone via Google Vs. --?

As reported rather breathlessly by The NYT, you can now make and receive phone calls to/from regular phones from/at your computer for free, without using iChat or Skype, although you have to set up Gmail and Google Voice accounts to do it. This is "a big deal" because:

The ultimate, of course, would be free calls from a phone, to a phone. But until now, all we’ve been able to do is dance around that concept.

For example, chat programs let you make free calls, computer-to-computer. Skype lets you make free calls from your cellphone, but not to regular phone numbers. Skype and Line2 let you make calls from your cellphone (when you’re in a 3G area or on Wi-Fi), to actual phone numbers — but not free.

What Voice Calls from Gmail does is open up another variation, one that [enables free] calls “from a computer, to a phone.” . . . What if Google released an app like that for Android phones, or the iPhone? . . . At that point, you could, for the first time in history, make unlimited free phone-to-phone calls.

. . . That development would cause conniptions at the cellphone companies, that’s for sure."

Of course, some of us might actually still be willing to purchase our phone services from AT&T et al. in exchange for greater privacy. But then, they'd have to provide privacy.

Obama Rewards AT&T's Ed Whitacre with GM Chairmanship

Add this to the list of Obama's list of disappointing appointments (see a lengthy but not-necessarily-complete list in this previous post). Whitacre was Chair and CEO of AT&T for 17 years (see The WSJ on his appointment to the GM chairmanship and his prior career), including while it was enabling the Bush admin's warrantless spying on innocent Americans (see Wikipedia, Corrente).

Since Obama et al. previously voted to immunize the telcos from their gross violations of our rights, Mr. Whitaker is now not in jail and is available for the GM Chairmanship – how lucky is that?

A Few Headlines:

"Whistle-Blower: Feds Have a High-Speed Backdoor Into Wireless Carrier. A U.S. government office in Quantico, Virginia, has direct, high-speed access to a major wireless carrier's systems, exposing customers' voice calls, data packets and physical movements to uncontrolled surveillance, according to [Babak Pasdar,] a computer security consultant who says he worked for the carrier in late 2003. . . . [Pasdar's] claims are nearly identical to unsourced allegations made in a federal lawsuit filed in 2006 against four phone companies and the U.S. government for alleged privacy violations." More here. Oddly, the article fails to also note former AT&T technician Mark Klein's allegations, even though he testified before Congress and won an award for it -- see here and here.

"This Thursday, the House of Representatives is expected to hand phone companies a get-out-of-jail-free card for illegally turning over your private phone records to the government. . . . Tell your U.S. representative [NOW] that you oppose any effort to cover-up illegal spying on Americans." You can take action here, or find your rep's contact info here. More on the story here and in my previous posts; and don't miss this (AT&T could already owe each of YOU $146,000 -- that's how seriously a previous Congress took this kind of violation).

"Many [Diebold voting machines] are 'black box' electronic machines that do not produce paper records, so voters have to accept the results they report on faith. . . . Now, there’s a new reason to worry that Diebold plays such a large role in presidential elections. United Technologies has made an unsolicited $3 billion bid to take over Diebold. . . . United Technologies is one of the nation’s leading defense contractors, which means it has an enormous corporate interest in who gets elected President." More here.

"[T]he International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has announced that it will shut down West Coast ports on May 1, to demand an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East." Others are encouraged to join in the strike. More here.

UPDATE: Per the Seattle Times, in a signing statement re- postal regulation legislation, Bush has now claimed the power to open your mail without a warrant. “'The [Bush] signing statement claims authority to open domestic mail without a warrant, and that would be new and quite alarming,' said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies in Washington. . . . 'You have to be concerned,” a senior U.S. official agreed. “It takes executive-branch authority beyond anything we’ve ever known.'” Via cryptogon.com.

Help Fight Telecom Immunity for Gross Violations of Your Fundamental Rights

Re-shaping reality is easier and more fun than you may have imagined.

Pls call all your congressional reps NOW and tell them they are NOT authorized to waive your Constitutional rights to be free from governmental searches without probable cause (see here or here for more details).

You can find your reps' contact info here (which link will, by the way, always be available on the sidebar of this blog at left).

Here's a script (don't forget to delete the superfluous quote marks; and feel free to customize):

"I object to any abrogation of the liability of the telecoms for their collaboration with the Bush administration in violating my Constitutional rights.

"As you know, the indiscriminate, warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens began BEFORE 9-11.

"As you also know, the U.S. Constitution is supposed to PROTECT me from searches and seizures not supported by an oath or affirmation "particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized." The government is NOT allowed to go on fishing expeditions indiscriminately violating my privacy for purposes that may or may not be in my best interests.

"If telecoms are given immunity for these flagrant violations of my rights, there's no limit to what may be asked of them by this or future administrations. Moreover, immunity will make it more difficult to investigate and hold accountable those in the Bush administration responsible for this abuse.

"Please honor your oath of office by protecting my Constitutional rights against this and every other attempted incursion."

Senate Dems Agree: the Constitution Really Is "Just a Goddamned Piece of Paper"

-- as Bush put it.

A number of Senate Dems, including Senator Clinton, have voted in favor of granting telecoms immunity for abetting the Bush administration's wholesale, warrantless spying on U.S. citizens, in gross violation of our Constitutional rights. Senator Obama voted against granting the immunity. You can check the roster here.

Remember, this isn't just about the telecoms, or even just deterring illegal spying. It's also about (1) whether the telecoms have any reason to reveal who in the Bush administration pushed for the illegal spying and (2) whether anyone in the future has any incentive to say "no" to the next violation by our government of our fundamental rights.

Help Defeat Telecoms' Third Push for Immunity for Warrentless Wiretapping

In response to grass-roots pressure, legislation has twice been successfully filibustered that would have granted telecoms immunity for abetting the Bush administration's indiscriminate wiretapping in gross violation of our Constitutional rights. Apparently a third push for immunity is now underway. Please go here to urge your representatives to defeat it.

AT&T Considering Monitoring All Internet Traffic

Mind-bogglingly bizarre: per Slate.com, "last week AT&T announced that it is seriously considering plans to examine all the traffic it carries for potential violations of U.S. intellectual property laws. The prospect of AT&T, already accused of spying on our telephone calls, now scanning every e-mail and download for outlawed content is way too totalitarian for my tastes." I'm not sure why they'd bother, if that were the only motivation; sounds more like they're floating an after-the-fact rationalization for Mark Klein's allegations.

AT&T Whistleblower: Telecoms Do Not Deserve Immunity

Former AT&T technician Mark Klein says that, at the U.S. government's request, AT&T has installed numerous, massive facilities that have been indiscriminately copying all internet traffic, even that of users who are not AT&T customers but whose communications were routed through AT&T's system. As he states in this video, “These installations only make sense if they’re doing a huge, massive domestic dragnet on all internet traffic in the United States.” He also says the telcos are intimately familiar with the constitutional issues from having dealt with warrants for wiretapping, etc., and knew full well that the government's program was in gross violation of the rights of millions of U.S. citizens. (My summary includes some details from an interview with Klein aired yesterday on NPR.)

Ongoing, Warrantless Telephone & Internet Surveillance of Us All

Even Starbucks is now required to help them spy on us.

Check out the summaries here and here. Note the post in the first thread indicating that telcos may now be routinely routing ALL communications through jurisdictions outside the U.S., so all can be captured.

All info is good info – until it's used against you for bad purposes. The gummint surveilled John Lennon (Wikipedia) and Martin Luther King (Wikipedia) in its efforts to end their activism, probably succeeding in the case of Lennon, who faced deportation for marijuana use.

A balance of power requires a balance of knowledge: we need to know at least as much about what our gummint is doing as it knows about us. We don't.