NSA can't be good for American businesses...

[mikegg]

Am I the only one who's worried that our ability to export technology (Google, Facebook, Cisco, Qualcomm, etc.) will be severely affected by the perception that the NSA can spy on anything and works with every American company to spy on you?

Even if it isn't true, that some of these tech companies don't work with the NSA, the perception is already there. Will foreigners stay away from American web products?

This is obviously a big deal because we're the worldwide leaders in software and chip design and export a lot of it to the rest of the world.

 

[Scotteq]

They already have been leaving US Hosting services.

 

[shady28]

...
Even if it isn't true, that some of these tech companies don't work with the NSA, the perception is already there. Will foreigners stay away from American web products?
...

The answer to your question is, yes.

Another relevant question :

Will Americans stay away from American web products?

When that shoe drops, I think the answer will also be yes.

The real question is, when (if ever) will Americans hold their elected officials accountable for their misdeeds? My guess is, never. When the economic house of cards falls down, it will become a question of who can misdirect the mindless mob onto who.

After all, how many people know that "Let them eat cake" was not actually said by Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. In fact, she opened the royal bakery up to feed the people. She was beheaded nonetheless. No, that quote came from someone 100 years before her.

 

[shabby]

The real question is, when (if ever) will Americans hold their elected officials accountable for their misdeeds?

Even if they do the next one will be the same, until money is taken out of politics nothing will change, the highest bidder will always control them.

 

[Lithium381]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/business/30pipes.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

Companies are setting up filters to attempt to not pass data through any ISP under US jurisdiction . . . .

 

[gevorg]

they'll give it back by insider trading for Wall Street, and industrial espionage for companies like Boeing

 

[JTsyo]

Heard that France was going to sell some of their satellites to UAE but the deal fell through since it had US parts in it that would allow for a back door.

From what I've seen CISCO is the hardest hit of the US companies.

 

[PokerGuy]

I think companies like Cisco, RSA and cloud hosting/computing platforms are going to be the hardest hit. Individuals using facebook or google docs probably are not that sensitive to being spied on by the US, but companies and governments with valuable data they want to keep secret will no doubt think twice about using any companies or products from the US. Surely the NSA has it's tentacles all over other products and services as well (from companies outside the US), but the perception is that US companies are just conduits for the NSA.

If you had information you really wanted to keep secret, would you use RSA? Cisco? Microsoft? Not a chance. Would you host your data on a US isp? No way. How about cloud storage or cloud computing with us firms? No way.

Thanks NSA for sinking a promising part of our technology economy.

 

[SaurusX]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/business/30pipes.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

Companies are setting up filters to attempt to not pass data through any ISP under US jurisdiction . . . .

I find it darkly amusing that anyone thinks this will stop the NSA from collecting their data.

 

[PokerGuy]

I find it darkly amusing that anyone thinks this will stop the NSA from collecting their data.

It definitely will not stop them from spying on Americans, but it will make spying on potential foreign bad guys a heck of a lot harder. With traffic no longer routed through the US, intelligence agencies like the NSA will have to work a lot harder to gather all the data.

 

[SaurusX]

It definitely will not stop them from spying on Americans, but it will make spying on potential foreign bad guys a heck of a lot harder. With traffic no longer routed through the US, intelligence agencies like the NSA will have to work a lot harder to gather all the data.

"a lot harder"? I'd say they'll put in about 15 extra minutes... max.

 

[glenn1]

Am I the only one who's worried that our ability to export technology (Google, Facebook, Cisco, Qualcomm, etc.) will be severely affected by the perception that the NSA can spy on anything and works with every American company to spy on you?

Even if it isn't true, that some of these tech companies don't work with the NSA, the perception is already there. Will foreigners stay away from American web products?

This is obviously a big deal because we're the worldwide leaders in software and chip design and export a lot of it to the rest of the world.

So what? Businesses like those are full of rich 1%'er employees who didn't fairly earn the money and are just greedily hording it. Look at the Bill Gate and Sergey Brins out there, they didn't build that and we need to more fairly distribute that wealth to the less fortunate. And focus on bringing back jobs for real, hardworking Americans, like in the textiles industry.

 

[zinfamous]

well, as posters have already shown, I'm not surprised that it is already a problem; but what I'm wondering is, how naive are businesses and private individuals to think that this is not happening on their own soil, with their own local hosting and portal services? And, of course, their own spy networks.

Not saying that it's great, but get real.

 

[Anarchist420]

this isnt going to stop the U.S.G from isolating its subjects and objects after it "secures" the borders and brings all the troops home... hillary clinton will go joseph stalin on the people who remain in the country. i just hope i will be 100% dead starting this year so i dont have to kill under threat of torture because she would use me as the biggest toolbag of destruction that she ever had.

So what? Businesses like those are full of rich 1%'er employees who didn't fairly earn the money and are just greedily hording it. Look at the Bill Gate and Sergey Brins out there, they didn't build that and we need to more fairly distribute that wealth to the less fortunate. And focus on bringing back jobs for real, hardworking Americans, like in the textiles industry.

Sergey Brin did more than Bill Gates as the latter didnt create any software (google's search engine is groundbreaking which Brin helped to create). Bill Gates is rich because of the IP system and he is a terrible hypocrite who abuses the court system. he also probably wants me and 95% of the world sterilized just as i am sure most people here do. i also am sure that sergey brin would hate me but sergey brin has contributed to society so i am not going to talk shit about him.

 

[C1]

Supposedly everyone is spying and stealing stuff. (And BTW, think how Bin Laden lived; in caves; no phones; communicated by multi-indirect courier exchanges; probably even had look-a-like decoys - cars & people just like Saddam Hussein used. All of that was going on since 911 and should tell you something about what he knew about "spying capabilities".)

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-14/inside-the-chinese-boom-in-corporate-espionage