Telecom Outages Now a State Secret

Saeed al-Sahaf writes "In the past, before negotiating important or large telecommunications contracts, you could check out the detailed network outage reports that large telecommunications carriers file with the FCC. By knowing where carriers had experienced problems, buyers can negotiate better service contracts and know where to plan on redundant services. As recently as last summer, the FCC championed the marketplace benefits of making outage data available to the public. But after more than a decade of making such carrier outage reports available to the public, the FCC in August ruled that the information will be kept secret, lest it fall into the hands of terrorists."

Comments

In Other News...

[ackthpt]

Wholesalers are doing a booming business on orders of cloaks and daggers in Washington DC

Hello, information? I'd like the numbers for G. David Shine and Roy Cohn.

Repercussions on Verizon commercials.

[HTH NE1]

"Can you hear me now? What do you mean you can't tell me that?"

Re:bulldust

[Ingolfke]

Why negotiating lower prices on their evil global communication networks of course.

While we're at it.

[pokeyburro]

Hurts business. Check.
Hurts discourse. Check.
Has terrorist excuse. Check.

Must be another /. political thread.

Re:Terrorists?

[SQLz]

Apparently the Terrorist were using the information to negotiate lower fees when building thier evil information infrastructure. Since terrorists should not be allowed to pay lower fees AND attack the USA, the FCC has decided to keep that information secret. Now, the terrorists will have to pay what everyone else pays.

It's about time!

[ArcticCelt]

It's about time!

Now if they can just ban access to that nasty election and recount data, the terrorist will really be screwed.

//And that's why 1984 will not be 1984 because in fact 1984 will be in 2004.

Re:Just Another Way That Bush Screws the Consumer

[timmy the large]

Dear Mr. pnatural

We are writing you to apologize about your cat. Sadly it was involved in a terrorist plot the we are currently not at liberty to discuss and for reasons of national security we were forced to drive over it repeatedly in black unmarked, sedans. We thank you for your cooperation in this matter and hope this does not affect your vote.

Sincerly,

Dick Cheney

OMFG!@!!!! TEH TERRISTS!!!

[l0ungeb0y]

TEH TERRISTS R CUMMING, TEH TERRISTS R CUMMING
QUICK -- GRAB ANKLES, BEND N INSERT HED INTO ASSSSSS!!!@#@#!~!!!

Ohhhh fux0r -- it's so dark -- there must be black ops in here!!!!

This story is yet another prime example of why I am seriously considering expatrioting myself from this fear mongering society of irrational and doctrines of hysteria enfored by skittle colored terror alerts.

I had a conspiracy theory that I made as a "joke" back in the 9/11 days that the twin towers attack was "allowed" in the same way that the British allowed Nazi airstrikes because they didn't want the Nazi's to know that they could see them coming via a new tech called "radar" Only this time, instead of strategizing against an outernationalist enemy, they are strategizing against US citizens by inciting a state of controlled panic to leverage measures to restrict our liberties and nullify the constition.
You see... the constitution has loopholes that allow for secrecy of public information and "temporary" revocation of rights in the event of "war time" needs. So the obvious exploit is to start a never ending war and exploit those holes in our national charter to rootkit the entirity of the constitution.

At the time I considered it an item that would make you laugh then make you think... but as time has gone on, I'm laughing less and thinking more.

priority check

[Packet Fish]

I can understand why these politicians what to protect this sensitive and important data, but lets get our priorities strait! There is a whole host of public data that must be protected before it falls into the wrong hands. Please refer to the following list.

• My Credit Report - The terrorist might try and deny me a new credit-card as part of their nefarious plan to prevent US citizens from purchasing top notch 3d hardware.
• Station ID Badges - If we allow the terrorist to see what channel they are watching while a program is on, then they will know which TV stations to attack.
• Web Page Advertising Links - If we provide hyperlinks to some of Americas most important companies on our unrelated web page, then it is far too easy for the terrorist to find their way to the companies' web sites. To be on the safe side, we should probably ban company websites all together.
• The Words on the Karaoke Screen - By simply providing the terrorist with the lyrics to Americas treasure trove of musical tallent, we make it that much easer for them to learn the ways of our culture and blend into our society.
• Magazine Subscription Inserts - Each magazine contains a card listing not only the address and content of the magazine, but how much it costs!?! And formatted into a pocket sized card that is easily removable and constructed of heavy durable paper! What are we thingking? These cards are practically treason.
• Political Advertising - By broadcasting to the public the names, faces, and issue positions of each political candidate, we are only making them targets for the terrorists.
• Spinach - By providing this vitamin laden vegetable to the general public, we are practically inviting the terrorists to obtain it in large quantities and become big and strong so that they can overpower our military. Spinach must be tightly controlled by the government.
• Reality TV Shows - These programs describe step by step for the terrorists dangerous skills such as wilderness survival, business tactics, how to run casinos, build or renovate buildings, and how to convince weak people to do things they don't what to for no reason.
• My Grades - By providing ready access to my educational records to all potential employers and parental garidans, the government is divulging information about this country's youth's readiness to serve and protect the country and level of expertise in important national security fields such as calculus, african american studies, and spelling. This information must be protected at all costs.
• News Crawls / Stock Tickers - The national security value of protecting J-Lo's latest breakup is unquestionably paramount.
• Spam E-Mail - Providing the terrorist with information on cheep home loans and ready pharmaceuticals access is tantamount to handing them the keys to Congress.

You laugh now...

[Kanasta]

By knowing where carriers had experienced problems, terrorists could avoid shoddy services and choose more reliable telecommunications carriers. Those evil evil...

Haa, we'll fix that. Now, terrorists will get shoddy services like the rest of us!