KeenObserver
@snoopblocker.com
 from:
Grimy 
| reply to SUMware
Re: AT&T willing to spy for NSA, MPAA, and RIAA
A number of organizations I work with are considering this overall situation very seriously. All are Canadian (or European-based with Canadian offices) and painfully aware of the level of protection given to non-US citizen data: none.
In the course of doing business, or simply corresponding with US colleagues, many private details and some trade secrets are revealed. In the past, common decency and an ongoing business relationship were all that was required for a foreign business to enjoy many, if not all, of the protections enjoyed by US citizens. Failing that, you had a binding contract.
This is no longer true.
Compound the disintegration of US privacy with a radical right view of listen first, demonize later, and you have a number of small and medium business owners learning French, Hindi, Punjabi, and Spanish: your market is losing it's appeal. The once tin-foil fantasy of an opinionated CTO being "dissapeared" while visiting the US is a serious concern these days. If you or a member of your organization has ever spoken critically of US policy, you start to wonder if making that next big sale is worth risking something akin to Gitmo.
Of course, now they'll be reading about the great data vacuum US networks are becoming. The guys running around up here offering US-free data routing to all destinations except those physically in the US aren't looking quite so foolish today. Border city conference rooms just might become popular. Don't forget your passports! 
On a personal note, I haven't been on vacation in the US for three years. I was a regular in family-friendly Kissimmee St. Cloud (US192) and recognized on site most places in South Carolina during Canadian winters. Heck, I haven't even taken in a NY show. That's something I did in groups at least twice a year. No more.
This isn't a rant, nor the ravings of a privacy nut hiding from helicopters. It's a topic of concern that did not exist and was not contemplated until a few years and one "war" ago. I don't have any hard feelings or agenda - I'm just following the money down the path of least resistance / greatest returns. |
