What is Digg?Sponsored by Travelzoo
Take Advantage of Ridiculously Low Holiday Airfares view!
travelzoo.com - Flights $52 and up for Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year. But move on it now.
107 Comments
- ZogTheObvious, on 10/12/2007, -3/+47This sort of thing does not strike me as being what our right to Freedom of Speech was designed to protect. It is not meant to give people the right to reveal information about other people to the government - it is designed to protect the people FROM the government. It is ridiculous for Verizon to stoop to this sort of argument. If anybody falls for this, they should be forbidden to breed. If any Right-Wing pundits try to defend this, they should also be forbidden to breed. (Or Left-Wing, for that matter, although I find that unlikely) This reminds me of the two boys who killed their parents then asked the court for leniency because they are orphans.
It is our right to privacy that is threatened by Verizon and the government; not Verizon's right to free speech.
Sheer lunacy. The direction this country is moving in... it boggles the mind that it's happening, and it boggles the mind that the American people are letting it happen. - t3soro, on 10/12/2007, -3/+27borninda818:
It bugs me every time I have to post this, it's absolutely unbelievable how ill-educated the vast majority of the people seem to be:
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Full text of the Constitution of the US, incl. the Declaration of Independence, as amended: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=105_cong_documents&docid=f:sd011.105
People, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are designed to say what the government CAN do, not what it can't do. Just because something isn't specifically mentioned in the Constitution does NOT mean we are not guaranteed those rights. - Lennalf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20Next up: Doctors disclose confidential information about patients, claim First Amendment protections
Later: Lawyers make blogs about crimes their clients have committed, claim First Amendment protections
Finally: Group of mischievous teens goes from town to town shouting "FIRE!!!" in movie theatres and calling schools to warn of "bomb threats." First Amendment.
... yeah. ***** Verizon up their stupid asses. - ACrazyGerman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16I have Comcast, and they don't give two ***** what you do on the internet or talk about on the phone just as long as you pay for your over priced services.
- Lixie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15Well, I'll exercise my right to never do business with them.
- TexMurphy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15I never buy a Verizon product again. What a shameless corporation.
- milomilomilo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11@borninda818
If you really believe that than I'll guess you have never actually read it.
9th amendment: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
that amendment actually states, that the whole bill of rights is in fact not a set of things we are allowed to do, but things the government cannot do, and makes clear that just because something isn't mentioned does not mean it is not allowed. - danarama, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Cute, corporations think they're people.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I will exercise my right to chose another provider.
- gmason08, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Who the F*** is Digging Down The F****** Constitution, are some of you so brainwashed or so bent on selfish agendas to piss all over the document that was intended to ensure the human dignity of all?
- ganjadude4391, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8It sucks that VZ is the only wireless provider in my area that gets "decent" coverage. I seriously do not want to use any verizon product ever again
- adamruth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8"Could you point out which paragraph in the constitution or in the bill of rights say that we have the right to privacy?"
Ammendment IX:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. - shadowsword232, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Born, that may be how it is used now, but the original intention was a much smaller federal government. The constitution explicitly states what the government can and cannot do, and if it does not have the right to do it in the constitution it does not have the right to do it at all. The bill of rights spells out certain things that the government cannot under any circumstances over step. The 9th amendment says that we have other rights that just those mentioned in the bill of rights.
- EntropyMan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7@borinda28,
T3soro is absolutely right. And beyond that, I'll ask you the same question you asked us. Where in the Constitution does it say that a _corporation_ shall receive any 1st amendment protections at all?
You will find nothing in the Constitution. You'll have to go back 150 years to find the origins of the worst decision in American history -- to legally count corporations as people. But the Constitution itself did not predict that, nor does it support that fiction.
Verizon may very well help us undo its own claimed 1st amendment protections by abusing them to a ridiculous extreme. The time has come to end the right of corporations to be protected as people. (and btw, I'm all for codifying their other rights in a new "Corporate Bill of Rights" -- but not a blanket 1st Amendment right as we and only we should enjoy). - Hootyea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"Corporation noun: An ingenious device for obtaining profit without individual responsibility"
Ambrose Bierce - pintomp3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7sad, the government treats them like people.
- EntropyMan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@blapierre,
The entire Bill of Rights is written to provide protections for PEOPLE from government. My chair does not have rights under the law. It is property. A corporation is similarly property, or at least it should be. (and this doesn't mean that people who work for corporations lose any protections from the government -- it's only the actions of the corporation as a whole I'm addressing).
If you want to learn more about this, look up the history of the term "artificial person" in law. Google it. You'll learn something. - blapierre, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8When government controls the schools you shouldn't be surprised when people have a pro-government belief about the constitution and the nature of government.
@EntropyMan
Where in the constitution does it say that individuals shall "receive first amendment protections"? It doesn't!
It says that congress shall make no laws abridging free speech, religion, press, assembly, etc.
The constitution limits governments, not empowers people. The people always have the power. - EntropyMan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6They don't "think" they're people. It's a fact, according to the law. Corporations count as people in just about every sense they want.
In one sense, I'm glad Verizon is being caught doing this because people will finally understand that the fiction of corporate "personhood" is behind some of the worst legal abuses in this country -- including the reason we can't ever get real campaign finance reform and the reason News Corp gets to legally lie. - d00ley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"Could you point out which paragraph in the constitution or in the bill of rights say that we have the right to privacy?"
The fourth amendment protects what we normally consider to be our privacy. "...The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects..." Also, the ninth amendment ensures that none of our rights are negated simply because they are not specifically mentioned/protected in the Constitution. - jdaniel284, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10Police State.
- Codes02, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Ummm... ever hear of "privacy" verizon?
- stepnw1f, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I will now be dumping Verizon.
- Echarter, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Boycott Verizon
- gmason08, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4BS pretty much sums this up.
- djsputnik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4i question if the founding fathers intended corporations to have "rights" or if those rights enumerated in the founding documents of our country were reserved for INDIVIDUALS
- desmondregan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4in canada the government is trying to make bell handover the records for internet use to catch pirates but bell is fightin back hard
- EntropyMan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4From the previous Digg discussion on Verizon and the 1st amendment (this is a dupe, but what the hell. It's important)
Telecommunications Act of 1996
http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/tcom1996.txt
SEC. 702. PRIVACY OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION.
`SEC. 222. PRIVACY OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION.
`(a) IN GENERAL- Every telecommunications carrier has a duty to protect the confidentiality of proprietary information of, and relating to...customers...
...
`(c) CONFIDENTIALITY OF CUSTOMER PROPRIETARY NETWORK INFORMATION-
`(1) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS-
Except as required by law or with the approval of the customer,a telecommunications carrier that receives or obtains customer proprietary network information by virtue of its provision of a telecommunications service shall only use, disclose, or permit access to individually identifiable customer proprietary network information in its provision of (A) the telecommunications service from which such information is derived, or (B) services necessary to, or used in, the provision of such telecommunications service, including the publishing of directories. - AllLitUp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Constitution is for citizens, not businesses.
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Corporations don't have civil rights. I'm well aware of the legal status of corporations as "persons", and their lack of public obligation; I disagree with both legal opinions. Corporations might only be considered "persons" within the context of civil law, but that's all I'd allow. As for Verizon's opinion that they are exercising free speech, the next time somebody violates their NDAs I want to see their opinion then.
- amunimanghi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Anyone else read only the first two words and though ''Verizon pevert?".
- cywar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Please take this serious.
Look around you at all the similarly unconstitutional things going on in our country.
Don't call us "tin foil idiots" for desperately trying to point these things out to you.
We are all in this together.
Either we will all survive with our Constitutional Republic intact or we will all be part of the failed American experiment.
It is not about your political affiliations.
It's about your country. - blapierre, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4....
- cryptoki, on 02/01/2008, -0/+3That is the most outrageous, unpatriotic, statement i have ever heard in my life by a corporation.
Maybe its time to flush the verizon phone down the toilet... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Haha, and these companies expect us to ***** bow down to them?
***** that *****.
Hopefully they're targeted next for some type of operation. I wouldn't shed a tear if they were.. - Grrreen, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I find the responses to this interesting given the "digg revolt" that happened only last week....
Can someone explain to me how this is different than posting a known "private" decryption code over and over again under the guise of free speech? - SiliconBadger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I just ported both my number and my girlfriends number to Cingular. As if Verizon's constant attempts to screw unsuspecting users out of their phones' natively supported bluetooth capabilities (a la V710 and E815, etc.), now this. I wrote them an e-mail and let them know that I think they're basically just suck-ups to an increasingly fascist government.
This move is a statement that Verizon sees the writing on the wall, and their message to government is: "You don't have to strong-arm us, we're right here with you. We want to participate in the ass raping of the American citizenry too." I would expect nothing different given their previous attempts to screw over their own customers.
Please, if you're upset about this, let Verizon know. Here is their contact page. Shoot them an e-mail.
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/contact/index.jsp - skizzabadoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I used to think that VZ was the only carrier that carried my semi-rural downstate Illinois city, and for the most part, it still is. I switched to another carrier a few months ago (since there are no roaming or long distance calls) I can use the (roaming) network with only sacrificing having to move to another room when I make a call, but that is a small price to pay (so I say) to never have to deal with VZ again.
- robbie87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Verizon:
Can we screw you now? - EndersGame, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4There is no way in hell this defense will fly in court. If it it does I swear I am moving to Canada asap. I have been trying to get my parents to ditch Verizon for months, but honestly all cell phone providers are corrupt. Cingular is the only alternative for us, and we could not stand AT&T when we had our 2 year contract with them, they are a bunch of criminals. Professional criminals.
- omninode, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You people do realize that if you use Verizon to make phone calls, they have full rights to your phone records? They own your call history, etc. just as much as you do because you had to go through them to make calls. They can give it to anyone if they want to.
- silentdud, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well technically it is true that they have freedom speech as well, not that I approve.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2
When corporations are given the same privacy rights as individual citizens, it is called a "Corporatocracy". An "Idiocracy" usually follows.
Something that American schools do not teach. - socialidiocy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@thek1ng
It's a question of precedents and a very slippery slope. Where are lines drawn/will be drawn on what is a 'terrorist'? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2OK I stand corrected. Thank you.
- Cole2026, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Read the constitution over Verizon, you can do whatever you want, as long as it does not infringe on my rights. That infringes on my rights.
***** you Verizon. - EntropyMan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They don't actually have the right to sell this info. They can sell customer account info, but these are phone call records, which are protected by existing law.
- azenone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2And I really wanted to switch to FIOS too.
***** Verizon - drouk1556, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They're a bunch of perverts.
Of the 1st Amendment, I mean. - SiliconBadger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2To my knowledge, there have been zero terrorist attacks in my community. I'm not at all frightened by terrorism, so please don't go creating a police state on my account.
-
Show 51 - 100 of 107 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is