Qwest's Newest Hero - Their Indicted CEO
Betsy's Page
How ironic that Joseph Nacchia, the former CEO of Qwest, is now being portrayed as this great hero of our civil liberties. Just a few months ago, he was indicted for insider trading. Could his sudden leap into the limelight to claim credit for refusing to let the NSA access to Qwest's phone records be an attempt to get some good PR before his trial begins?
<<< By declaring that he turned the government away, Nacchio could be trying to show that he had high-level dealings with the government yet was also strong enough to stand his ground. That portrait, lawyers say, might resonate with potential jurors in Denver, where Qwest has its headquarters and where his case may go to trial.
"You have to wonder why he wants to be in the limelight," said John Hemann, a partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius and a member of the Justice Department's Enron Task Force. "You take an issue where the wind is blowing the right way and you put yourself on the right side of it by saying 'I was looking out for the little guy.' This is going to play huge in Denver." >>>
Of course, the citizens of Denver might not be so fond of a company leader who refused, after 9/11, to help the government set up a perfectly legal data base to track terrorists. His attempt to change his public image before his trial may backfire on him.
Also, for those who are overcome with gratitude to Qwest for supposedly protecting their privacty, there is this little tidbit,
<<< Privacy advocates are praising Denver-based Qwest Communications and its former chief executive Joseph Nacchio for refusing to turn over customer data to the government.
But a less favorable picture of the telecommunications company emerges from shareholder lawsuits, a federal investigation into the company and an indictment of Nacchio on insider trading charges.
The company also faced criticism in 2002 from a privacy group that said Qwest's privacy policy allowed customer information to be released to its affiliates for marketing purposes. >>>
Hmmm, which upsets you more? Your customer information being given to the NSA to set up a database to help track terrorists within the United States or your customer information being given to Qwest's affiliates so that you can get bombarded with their marketing push?
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