Tech Giants Form Group to Pressure U.S. Over Surveillance - Polidicks

In case you guys have not seen this. [QUOTE]Seven of the nation's largest technology companies have teamed to pressure the U.S. to scale back its government surveillance programs, demanding five changes in the way the U.S. compiles and uses the data of private citizens.[/QUOTE] [URL="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/09/idUS341874140620131209"]http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/09/idUS341874140620131209[/URL]

AOL, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo

Cue giant server farms in switzerland.

[QUOTE=Lizzrd;43124062]Cue giant server farms in switzerland.[/QUOTE] does this mean we get google fiber now?

6 tech giants and Yahoo*

[QUOTE=shakadamus;43124131]6 tech giants and Yahoo*[/QUOTE] calling AOL a tech giant is a bit of a stretch

I could imagine it growing after today's NSA news to include gaming companies.

[QUOTE=Untouch;43124368]calling AOL a tech giant is a bit of a stretch[/QUOTE] From what I understand their job is in server hosting now. I live near its (former) headquarters in Ashburn, VA and did a tour once and all they do is server hosting, and they're quite profitable at it.

[QUOTE=proboardslol;43124422]From what I understand their job is in server hosting now. I live near its (former) headquarters in Ashburn, VA and did a tour once and all they do is server hosting, and they're quite profitable at it.[/QUOTE] I thought they still did dial-up.

Off topic, but has valve ever gotten involved in anything politically?

[QUOTE=Banhfunbags;43124458]Off topic, but has valve ever gotten involved in anything politically?[/QUOTE] If you can count being against microsoft trying to wall everything in, yes. DOn't know of anything else though, they aren't a really big company.

After seeing the surveillance scandals even spreading to mmos is ridiculous. The devs could easily get creative with their protests though if they want to get involved. Imagine disabling in-game chat completely for a day or something as protest, that would be sure to get someone's attention.

[QUOTE=Untouch;43124368]calling AOL a tech giant is a bit of a stretch[/QUOTE] I wanted to keep it short and sweet, plus I don't know what AOL are like in the states, I haven't seen them in the UK since dial-up when you'd get a 1 month free trial every month through the door or randomly in a box of cereal.

funny, this is a case of big lobby actually lobbying for us for once

Why is Yahoo still relevant? In any case, this is a good sign.

[QUOTE=Durrsly;43124435]I thought they still did dial-up.[/QUOTE] They still have a large rural dial-up userbase because mega cable monopolies either refuse to install infrastructure in rural areas or because they charge astronomical prices for not much better than dial-up speeds. DSL is also not possible in most cases because of poor quality phone lines and because you need to be within so many thousands of feet of a DSL transceiver on the other end. Not to mention DSL is also ridiculously expensive for near dialup speeds in those cases.

"Stop spying on people... that's our job."

[QUOTE=Explosions;43124845]Why is Yahoo still relevant? In any case, this is a good sign.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://strategicmarketingacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/tumblr-logo.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Sableye;43124711]funny, this is a case of big lobby actually lobbying for us for once[/QUOTE] They're likely doing this because of the costs of surveillance that are dumped onto them as well. Not to mention the possibility of consumers leaving for companies that don't partake in the surveillance programs.