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U.S. Threatened Massive Fine To Force Yahoo To Release Data
Advocatus Diaboli writes The U.S. government threatened to fine Yahoo $250,000 a day in 2008 if it failed to comply with a broad demand to hand over user data that the company believed was unconstitutional, according to court documents unsealed Thursday that illuminate how federal officials forced American tech companies to participate in the NSA's controversial PRISM program. The documents, roughly 1,500 pages worth, outline a secret and ultimately unsuccessful legal battle by Yahoo to resist the government's demands. The company's loss required Yahoo to become one of the first to begin providing information to PRISM, a program that gave the National Security Agency extensive access to records of online communications by users of Yahoo and other U.S.-based technology firms.
In order to issue a fine the action should have required the courts and appeals process up even unto the Supreme Court before any fine could be started. Frankly the loss of 4,000 people, several buildings and and three aircraft did not and does not constitute a threat to national security. The US is strong enough to take quite a few similar attacks without collapse of the nation. All that was really proven was that some clever Arab lunatics managed to do some harm. It shows that they have no real ability to mount a serious attack. Conversely we have the ability to exterminate the entire Arab region with relative ease if we like, Perhaps these people should consider the fact that the efficient way to handle them is to kill all and let God sort the good ones from the bad ones. Playing silly little battlefield games uses up money and American lives. Maybe we simply need to do a demo and just eliminate one nation down to the last living creature.