ACLU Raises Surveillance as Issue in Big Phone Merger

ACLU RAISES SURVEILLANCE AS ISSUE IN BIG PHONE MERGER
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ken Belson]
The American Civil Liberties Union asked the Federal Communications Commission yesterday to withhold approval of AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth until it reviews allegations that the companies gave customer records to the government without warrants. In its filing, the ACLU. cited a provision in the Telecommunications Act that says that in considering a merger, the commission must "weigh the public-interest harms of the proposed transaction against the potential public-interest benefits." The group said the FCC should determine if AT&T and BellSouth handed over phone records to the National Security Agency's surveillance program and, if so, whether that violated any privacy laws.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/technology/06phone.html
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