• Tim Cook and Apple Sued Over NSA/PRISM Privacy Violations Along with Several Others

    by
    Akshay Masand
    Published on 2013-06-13 12:41 PM
    9 Comments Comments


    Both Apple and Tim Cook personally have been sued by a conservative activist and three others as part of a class action lawsuit over alleged privacy violations resulting from the company’s supposed participation in the NSA’s PRISM intelligence program. Others who were also sued include President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, NSA Director Keith Alexander, the NSA itself, the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as Facebook, Google, YouTube, Microsoft, Skype, AOL, Yahoo, PalTalk, AT&T and Sprint -- and all the CEO's of those companies personally.

    As one of the largest companies in the world, Apple is routinely sued over a wide variety of issues. This is easily pointed out by the many number of lawsuits they are involved in on an ongoing basis. The company has large legal teams to handle these lawsuits, though the sheer number of defendants in this case could make for interesting court filings.

    Plaintiff Larry Klayman issued the following statement:

    This and the Verizon class action will serve to unify all political and social persuasions in our great nation to wage a second American revolution, one that is peaceful and legal – but pursued with great resolve and force. Government dishonesty and tyranny against the people have reached historic proportions during the last three administrations in particular, and the time has come for We the People to rise up and reclaim control of our nation. If not, the government will control us and this will mark the end of individual liberties. The American people can thus use these class actions to 'man the barricades of freedom' against the establishment government despots and their corporate enablers who seek to enslave them through coercive abuses of their privacy. This Orwellian power grab can only be intended to blackmail the masses into submission in order that these modern day greedy tyrants achieve their corrupt ends.
    This isn’t the only class action lawsuit filed or planned over the PRISM disclosures. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has said that he will file a lawsuit against the Obama administration over what he says are “unconstitutional” surveillance programs. Paul wants to get the customers of all the offending companies to join a class action suit and take it to the U.S. Supreme Court. The American Civil Liberties Union has also filed a lawsuit, though it is focusing on the Government itself rather than the alleged corporate partners. The suit alleges that the Government’s tracking of phone records violates Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

    It’s important to note that both Rand Paul and the ACLU are, at least to this point, primarily speaking out about Verizon Business Network Services giving call logs to the NSA for millions of calls both within the United States and abroad. However, both the Verizon/NSA issue and the Apple-related PRISM allegations were revealed around the same time last week and are largely seen as connected in the eyes of most critics.

    What do you think of the whole ordeal?

    Source: FreedomWatchUSA (1) (2), Washington Post
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Tim Cook and Apple Sued Over NSA/PRISM Privacy Violations Along with Several Others started by Akshay Masand View original post
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    Comments 9 Comments
    1. Silverado1987's Avatar
      Silverado1987 - 2013-06-13, 05:49 PM
      …um *sigh*…really?
    1. Feanor64's Avatar
      Feanor64 - 2013-06-13, 06:36 PM
      Good
    1. DayumQuitPlayin's Avatar
      DayumQuitPlayin - 2013-06-13, 06:53 PM
      Wow, this is something I'm going to follow closely.
    1. ridingsupreme's Avatar
      ridingsupreme - 2013-06-13, 06:59 PM
      U know what's funny? It was the conservatives BUSH cough cough that passed these bills after 9-11. I find it hilarious that people are just now (7-9 years later,) taking action and "discovering" these surveillance programs.
    1. HeliPilot's Avatar
      HeliPilot - 2013-06-13, 07:01 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Silverado1987 View Post
      …um *sigh*…really?
      I for one could not agree more with the lawsuit. It may go nowhere but at least it's on the peoples radar now.
      The so-called patriot act was and is the single worst violation of the United States Constitution ever devised, period.
      From being able to detain an American citizen WITHOUT due cause or process to the NSA collecting private data at will.
      What scares me the most are the things we don't know about.
      It is time U.S. citizens take back OUR country. If our for-fathers were alive today there would be a revolution led by them.
    1. unison999's Avatar
      unison999 - 2013-06-13, 09:43 PM
      It was mildly amusing when lawsuit filed going against a whole bunch of high profile people and companies, everyone knew it is to bring attention to their case and cause. It is no longer amusing and barely worth the attention given to read the title of the article, can't wait for my brain to automatically skip these type of publicity stunt.

      Quote Originally Posted by HeliPilot View Post
      I for one could not agree more with the lawsuit. It may go nowhere but at least it's on the peoples radar now.
      The so-called patriot act was and is the single worst violation of the United States Constitution ever devised, period.
      From being able to detain an American citizen WITHOUT due cause or process to the NSA collecting private data at will.
      What scares me the most are the things we don't know about.
      It is time U.S. citizens take back OUR country. If our for-fathers were alive today there would be a revolution led by them.
      I for one disagree with the lawsuit.
      When we were attacked by terrorist on 9/11 what did people ask for? More security. Do you think terrorist hides in plain sight wearing terrorist t-shirts so it is easy to find them? Or do you think they hide even in U.S. and even some have U.S. citizenship? I believe it is an established fact that this is exactly what is going on, some terrorist organization not only penetrated U.S. they have agents here in U.S. with U.S. citizenship. I for one do not believe U.S. Citizenship should protect such person who intend harm to the rest of the country. It seems easier to plan/setup a terrorist attacks in U.S. than outside of U.S. without such precautions, I for one is ok with their intelligence gathering. Don't care what they see in my emails/text/phone calls/etc as long as they do nothing with it, only way it is used is to catch terrorists/terrorist activities that violates national security.
    1. Feanor64's Avatar
      Feanor64 - 2013-06-13, 10:52 PM
      If u believe the government will stop there you are delusional. U completely trust them? "Those who would give up liberty for safety deserve neither liberty or safety"-Benjamin Franklin.
    1. HeliPilot's Avatar
      HeliPilot - 2013-06-14, 01:53 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by unison999 View Post
      It was mildly amusing when lawsuit filed going against a whole bunch of high profile people and companies, everyone knew it is to bring attention to their case and cause. It is no longer amusing and barely worth the attention given to read the title of the article, can't wait for my brain to automatically skip these type of publicity stunt.



      I for one disagree with the lawsuit.
      When we were attacked by terrorist on 9/11 what did people ask for? More security. Do you think terrorist hides in plain sight wearing terrorist t-shirts so it is easy to find them? Or do you think they hide even in U.S. and even some have U.S. citizenship? I believe it is an established fact that this is exactly what is going on, some terrorist organization not only penetrated U.S. they have agents here in U.S. with U.S. citizenship. I for one do not believe U.S. Citizenship should protect such person who intend harm to the rest of the country. It seems easier to plan/setup a terrorist attacks in U.S. than outside of U.S. without such precautions, I for one is ok with their intelligence gathering. Don't care what they see in my emails/text/phone calls/etc as long as they do nothing with it, only way it is used is to catch terrorists/terrorist activities that violates national security.

      Until the surveillance catches and innocent word or text and then you are detained without cause and due process with no way to defend yourself because the patriot act took your Constitutional rights away.
      And to clarify, the citizens of the USA did not ask for the patriot act, it was written and enacted by our so-called government without our vote.
      My point is that there are two sides to everything, and the loss of freedom for the delusion of security is a very slippery slope that can result in a government oppressed society. The Constitution of the United States is designed for the sole purpose of making sure government will is never larger then the peoples will.
    1. reopeadres's Avatar
      reopeadres - 2013-06-14, 03:45 AM
      All that feel good legislation is coming back to bite people in the ***.

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