Friday, June 07, 2013
Bad Position
There is the old cliche of being put between a rock and a hard place. Verizon, the telecommunications giant, knows what that means. It is caught between the government, which ordered Verizon to turn over call logs for its Business Services unit, and civil libertarians, who are worried about government intrusion into privacy. Verizon has responded that it must comply with the law, but that isn't going to insulate it from criticism that it should have fought the government order. No company wants to be in a position like this. It is another example of "can't win." Verizon has been swept into the maelstrom of argument over how much a government is allowed to intrude into lives of citizens. There is no clear answer nor defining law. The government, true to its nature, is pushing as hard as it can to go as far as it can to protect citizens through finding and isolating terrorists. Ultimately, the Supreme Court will have to set boundaries. Meanwhile, Verizon and other telecommunications firms will live in limbo. They could speak out as Google did when China intruded into privacy, but chances are they won't. It is one more PR peril of the modern age.
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