Corporations VS. Government – The New Hunger Games?

Since the NSA scandal escalated and leaked documents revealed the master-and-slave type of relationship between the government and US corporations, companies have been going out of their way to assure their customers it wasn`t their fault.It was the government. They were ordered to give away everything they knew about their customers, aka Americans who used their services, in some cases even paid for those services, and trusted the providers with their personal data.

Ever since they were busted, all these corporations had to deal with a very difficult decision to make: kiss the government`s rear end or fix their relationship with their customers? Obviously, they chose the money. I mean, the customers. Because they respect their privacy and take it very seriously. Also, because without their loyal clients bringing them millions of dollars, here comes bankruptcy!

Now, I don`t know if you were curious to watch the show these companies have been putting on lately, but except for Obama… I don`t think I`ve ever seen anyone try harder to come up with excuses. Take Yahoo! for example:

source: www.theregister.co.uk

According to The Register, The Purple Palace wants to lift a seal on a 2008 court case in which the firm “strenuously objected” to the National Security Agency’s requests for its customers’ info. Yahoo! was overruled and the US government was subsequently given powers to harvest information from major internet firms.

Moreover, until the leaked documents sparked the scandal, Yahoo! was forbidden to say it was a party in the court case which was kept classified under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Microsoft, the company that probably spilled the biggest amount of information about its users, sticks to a similar story:

source: www.guardian.co.uk

After handing the NSA absolutely every single type of personal data they owned, including Skype videos, they declared they were “legally compelled to comply”. So the government twisted their arms, threatened these companies and forced them to sign this agreement.

Allow me to raise my eyebrow in disbelief. Don`t get me wrong. I`m sure they were “legally compelled to comply”. But I don`t believe for a second that a megacompany as powerful as Microsoft had its arm twisted by the NSA. The government is practically sold to corporations. Hell, they`d sell the whole country for a big, fat, corporate check. So playing the victim here only shows just how double-faced and greedy these companies really are.

Let`s tell it like it is: it was an agreement, not an order. It was the classic “I scratch your back, you scratch mine”. And everything was perfect as it was as long as the agreement was hush. Now, when it`s out in the open and people are enraged by the way corporations sold them like slaves on a plantation, the ultimate battle began. And make no mistake, battling for customers involves no fairplay whatsoever. If so far they were “legally compelled” to do whatever the government told them , now they riot against The System. They raise their fists in the air at the injustice that has been made…

But this is yet another show they`re putting on. A loud, sparkly show, to get everyone`s eyes from what`s going on behind the curtain: a new agreement. A neighbor of mine was naive enough to believe these companies “were really bold to take a stand against the government. Now they`ll have hell to pay, for sure.”

No, they won`t. The bond between corrupt politicians and fat cats will not break because of a tiny little scandal that will be forgotten by the end of the year. They`re just going to make a new deal, a smarter one, a sneakier one… and then keep it underground.

All they have to do is make sure no whistleblower throws them in the spotlight again. And Obama is right on it.

source: www.mrconservative.com

“The program tells federal employees to essentially spy on each other. If they notice any strange behavior or unexplained travel, they are to report that colleague immediately. Any indicator that a federal employe could be “high risk” as a leaker is to be reported.” (www.mrconservative.com)

How do they motivate this absurd executive order?

The document tries to identify government employees who could create “damage to the United States through espionage, terrorism, unauthorized disclosure of national security information or through the loss or degradation of departmental resources or capabilities.”

Can anyone, please, give them some other idea besides the all-time favorite terrorist threat clichee? Anyone?

By Alec Deacon