The Only Telecom CEO to Refuse NSA Spy Demands Has Been Released from Jail

Here’s a really interesting story that many people may not be familiar with. By now, we all know that every single major telecom CEO bent over submissively the minute the NSA came calling for data. Except one. A forgotten man in the entire NSA spy scandal is Joseph Nacchio, former CEO of Qwest, who actually refused to participate in the NSA’s illegal activities when they first propositioned him in 2001. Several years later, he was convicted of insider trading.

Perhaps I’m just a conspiracy theorist, but I find it quite coincidental that a country which lets Jon Corzine off the hook, a country where not a single CEO or executive of a financial institution was indicted with regard to the 2008 crisis, a country where James Clapper lies to Congress about the NSA and face zero repercussions; that in such a country the only major corporate CEO to go to jail for financial crimes is the one that refused to play ball with the NSA.

Well it seems the man himself shares such sentiments, and he continues to express them. Mr Nacchio was released from his four and a half year sentence on September 20th. More from the Washington Post:

Just one major telecommunications company refused to participate in a legally dubious NSA surveillance program in 2001. A few years later, its CEO was indicted by federal prosecutors. He was convicted, served four and a half years of his sentence and was released this month.

Prosecutors claim Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio was guilty of insider trading, and that his prosecution had nothing to do with his refusal to allow spying on his customers without the permission of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. But to this day, Nacchio insists that his prosecution was retaliation for refusing to break the law on the NSA’s behalf.

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Blockbuster Lawsuit: Whistleblower Alleges Reuters Releases Data Early to HFT Clients

Very interesting, but unsurprising, allegations have surfaced in a lawsuit brought forth by former Thomson-Reuters employee Mark Rosenblum that alleges the company released sensitive economic data early to HFT (high frequency trading) clients.  Now this should come as no shock to anyone, considering it has become crystal clear that the entire economy is essentially simply one giant oligarch-run fraud that is designed to take the wealth and labor of 99.9% and funnel it all up to them.  This realization is a large drive behind the recent success of Bitcoin, as people are simply desperate to get free of the parasitic banking system at all costs.  From Reuters:

In the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, Mark Rosenblum said he was terminated after telling U.S. authorities that the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers was released at different times to different subscribers.

Rosenblum said in his court papers that Thomson Reuters releases the monthly survey to so-called “ultra low-latency” subscribers at two seconds before 9:55 a.m. ET, to “desktop” subscribers at 9:55 a.m., and to the general public at 10 a.m.

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Revolving Door Update: Shamed Swiss Central Bank Chief to Join BlackRock

Anyone surprised here?  So the guy who decided it was a great idea to peg the Swiss Franc to the sinking stone that is the Euro, and whose wife was accused of insider trading by front running that decision, finally received his reward from the crony capitalist financial oligarchs…a top position at BlackRock!  He will … Read more